


Lion Hearted

by BogDing



Series: Blade of Lance-Marmora [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance has a galra mum and many dads, M/M, Multi, also life kicks my ass and im here to pick up the pieces, bc OF COURSE they release her name in season 6 (??? idk i havent been keeping up with the show), but not snails pace i promise, dhfgsdgjf, edited to change zarrli's name to krolia, hahahah, i might make a separate fic for lance growing up with the bom but that will be later, if there are kinks in later chapters i will label them in the chapter in the description, lance gets raised by the bom au, now keith's entire family has names starting with k i hate it, oh ye, parents of marmora are gonna get wrecked by a tiny human child, pidge uses both fem and gender neutral pronouns whoo, rated explicit just in case, slowburn guys its slowburn, thace is part of the bom so theres that, the plot develops as i go along i have no control over it, why do i do this to myself i already have a bunch of shit im working on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-02 15:06:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11511888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BogDing/pseuds/BogDing
Summary: "Is that... a child?""Have you ever seen one so small? Perhaps it is some strange exotic pet.""I think I know a child when I see one, Thace."





	1. I Know What A Child Looks Like, Thace

**Author's Note:**

> pls dont start reading this fic with the hope that i'll update regularly. I have a tumblr with other stories that are my priority as well, so everything will update very slowly.
> 
> this is a fic i've been thinking and hesitating a long time in writing. pls enjoy it lmao

"Mama! Mama, look!" A small boy squealed joyously, waving his hands up in the air wildly to catch his mother's attention.

The older woman looked up from feeding her younger daughter, towards her four-year-old. She smiled brightly at him, watching as he jumped and splashed in the sea water that washed gently up on the beach. He giggled happily, little arms waving around in delight as the cold water rushed over tanned toes, a big bright smile sent over to his mother as she clapped in delight for him.

"That's very nice, mijo! But please stay close to shore where your papa or I can see you!" The mother called, slight concern tinging her voice as she watched him splash about. He would be relatively safe with his inflated armbands wrapped tightly around his upper arms, but she would rather he didn't risk it.

Little Lance nodded with his bright smile, "Otay, mama!" 

His mother sighed softly, turning her attention back to her daughter. A way away, her husband and their two oldest children were hunting for shells around the cave entrance ways, hoping to find complete and pretty shells to add to their collection back in the family's home further up the beach. It was such a nice, sunny day, perfect weather to go out for a family beach day. The salt of the sea had beckoned the small family from their home with the promise of warm sunshine and watery fun.

Everything was going perfectly.

It must have only been a few moments of peaceful silence when Sofia Fernandez looked up from her youngest. Lance had been too quiet, the little boy's happy splashing and giggling leaving a gap in the sounds that should be within her hearing range. A lump of dread formed in the pit of her stomach as she looked up, scanning the beach and waters for her wayward son in the hopes that maybe he'd just been distracted by a crab scuttling along the sand, "Lance?" She called out.

When no happy, childish voice rang back out to her, a fear came to clutch her chest. She stood from the towel, lifting her daughter up with her. She hoped that with the added height she might have been able to spot him. Panic started to clench her abdomen when she still could not see hide nor hair of her little boy, "Lance! Answer me, mijo! Where are you!" She called out, turning in every direction, just in case she had perhaps missed him when he had wandered off to go join his father and older siblings. 

"Arturo! Arturo, come quick!" She called to her husband, rushing over to the caves, clutching a whimpering child tightly to her chest. Looking up, her husband furrowed his brow in confusion, "I can't find Lance! He's just disappeared!" Sofia babbled, tears welling in her eyes.

Arturo sucked in a sharp breath and told her to go back to the towels, ordering his oldest children to help him look for Lance on the beach.

None of them saw the small, purple shuttle shoot off into the sky, their fear for their missing child the only thing clouding their minds.

* * *

 

Arriving in the thick of battle was not the best idea and Maveera was going to lord it over Kolivan's head once they were done and had returned successfully to the base.

The tall Galra woman cursed harshly, dodging to the side to avoid several rifle blasts from enemy sentinels. For beings without brains, they were fairly good at strategizing effective attacks against blade and gun wielders alike. Maveera gritted her sharp teeth, aiming her blaster and shooting once, twice, three times, picking off five of the heartless robotic soldiers that stood before she and her team. She didn't bother looking up at Thace lunged past her, taking down another three of the sentinels with his sword, closely followed by Ulaz as the other got rid of the last two robots.

Maveera breathed deeply, setting her gun to the side after checking the perimeter, just in case they'd be surrounded once again. When no other sentinels came bursting through the doors, she reached up and turned on her communicator, "Southern prisoner decks are cleared, all units accounted for," She hummed, moving her gun so that it rested more comfortably in her grip. Maveera glanced up to see Thace and Ulaz move around the room, looking into different cells briefly. She frowned; it didn't seem like there were any prisoners aboard this vessel, which was strange, considering that this was a prisoner ship.

Her attention returned to her communications device as it crackled to life in her ear, Kolivan's gruff voice ringing through it clearly, "Affirmative. Clear all cells and collect any data you're able to gather from the controls then head back to the meet-up point."

"Copy that," Maveera confirmed easily, shoving her gun back into its holster on her back. Standing straight up, she stretched lazily in an attempt to work any kinks from her back. Heading over to Ulaz and Thace, she tapped her shorter companions on their shoulders to grab their attention. 

 "Ulaz, go get the information we need. Thace and I will continue looking into the cells for any prisoners," She ordered, sending Ulaz off to the control area to gather as much information as possible before it was time to leave. Maveera turned towards Thace and gestured for him to follow her, the two of them walking silently down the halls.

They must have spent several minutes opening and looking into different prisoner cells. It was eerily silent, empty apart from the two Marmora operatives that walked through. They were about to cut their losses and return to Ulaz when they finally came across a cell full of dead prisoners. Maveera gagged, turning her head from the already rot-sweet smelling cell to keep the scent from clogging up her nose. Thace didn't seem to have as much of a problem, considering he was still wearing his mask, and walked in, checking the prisoners for any signs of a pulse. Sighing harshly, he turned to Maveera and shook his head. No survivors.

"They must have come in here to kill them when the alarms went off," Thace muttered, heaving back up onto his feet with a sigh and turning his attention back to Maveera, "We should head back and catch up with Ulaz-"

"Shht!" Maveera suddenly hissed her attention back to the cell. Thace stiffened, watching his partner as her ears swiveled wildly in the direction of the cell. Carefully, she stepped inside, following the sound of soft, hiccuping sobs that seemed to be coming from the very back. She didn't pay any attention to Thace, who had taken his sword back in hand-just in case-as she walked closer to one of the prisoner bodies at the very back. It was in a strange position, seemingly hunched over something in an effort to hide it from those who would try to come in. 

Brow furrowed, the tall Galra woman moved the body gingerly to the side, sucking in a sharp breath at what she found. Before her curled up in a terrified, crying ball, was the smallest creature she'd ever seen. Its eyes turned up to her, strikingly blue against the brown of its skin, and whimpered, trying to curl further away from her. Kneeling, she hesitantly reached out to it, "It... it's alright, I am here to help," Maveera spoke softly, hoping to be soothing for the small creature so that it didn't panic and cry anymore. Her yellow eyes roamed its form, checking it over for any sorts of injuries that could be present. It seemed that they had come out relatively unscathed, the body of the larger prisoner having shielded them from the brunt of the assault that would have undoubtedly killed them-no, wait. She narrowed her eyes, grimacing as she saw what was undoubtedly a cauterized wound from a blast-gun, shot cleanly through their left leg, leaving it cut off at the thigh. They'd have to take care of that as soon as possible to ensure it wouldn't get infected. 

The small being hiccuped loudly and looked up at her in fear, so Maveera tried to form her lips into a soothing smile, keeping her sharp teeth hidden in case it would seem threatening. With another sniffle, the small creature raised their hands up in a universal gesture to be picked up, whimpering softly through their tears. Her heart squeezed painfully and she quickly picked them up, clutching them close to her chest as she stood back up and turned to exit the horribly smelling cell.

Thace stared at the small being in her arms-barely half the size of a Galra kit-with a look of horror on his face, "What the hell is that?"

Maveera gave him an unimpressed look, feeling the small being flinch and clutch her closer, burying their small face in her neck, "I believe that it is a child," She said wryly, hefting them up so they sat more comfortably and securely in her arms. 

Thace snorted, tucking his sword back into the sheath looped on his belt, "Have you ever seen one so small? Perhaps it is some strange exotic pet."

"I think I know a child when I see one, Thace." The taller Galra woman huffed in amusement, starting to make her way down the halls, carefully making sure that the child was not jostled too much as she walked. She turned her attention away from Thace, who had started following her to join Ulaz in the control room, to the small being in her arms, "What is your name, little one?" She asked, knowing that all prisoners were fitted with translation chips to ensure that they would be able to follow orders from prison guards.

The creature sniffled and turned their face up to look at her, "M'name 's Lance," He, for she was fairly sure the child is a he, mumbled thickly, seeming to still have some difficulty with forming words. Maveera ached, he could not have been more than a handful of doboshes old if he was still having trouble speaking words.

"I am Maveera," She said in response, giving Lance a small smile as they passed by the deck they'd just cleared, "How old are you, Lance?"

"Uhm..." He hummed, pausing with an intense look of concentration on his face (Maveera must stay strong, she must not coo at the adorable wrinkle of the child's nose as he thought about her question as if it were the most difficult one in the universe), "'m four..." He mumbled shyly, and she clutched him tightly, giving him a pained smile.

Only four. Four doboshes and he was stuck in a prison cell with beings he had undoubtedly never seen before. Her heart went out to the small boy-no wonder he had been so afraid of her. Considering she'd never seen his species before, it was highly likely that he came from an unknown planet as of yet. 

"Well, you are very brave to have come with me so easily, little cub," She cooed, chuckling as the little boy seemed to flush a lovely red color, before preening lightly under her praise. Her attention went from him when she heard a throat clear before her. Ulaz seemed to stare at the small child for a few moments before turning an unimpressed gaze upon the taller woman, who tensed at the look and growled lightly.

"Is that the only prisoner?" Ulaz asked, turning his attention back to the flashing screen before him. Maveera moved over to a nearby bag, knowing that it contained various first aid objects to help clean the little one's wounds.

Thace nodded grimly, coming to stand beside his mate as he did so, keeping an eye on Maveera and the child as she set him on a table in front of her before starting to clean the wound of what was left of his leg, murmuring softly and soothingly as she did, "He was the only living one," He replied curtly, feeling the tension in Ulaz rise, upset clear and visible on his lilac features.

Ulaz was silent for a few moments before clearing his throat and turning off the computer, "I see," he said shortly, turning his attention to the child and coming up beside Maveera to help her hold the bandage in place as she finished cleaning and dressing the child's wounds. "I have never seen his kind before..." he murmured, glancing back to Thace who nodded, "which means that there is no way we can possibly return him from whence he came. There are too many possible planets that could house his species and we do not have the time to go looking for it."

"I am aware of that," Maveera muttered, wiping away the tears that had spilled from Lance's face as she put away the first aid kit, picking him back up and standing once again. She turned back to Ulaz and Thace, who finished packing up their belongings to head back to the launch deck, "We will take him with us back to base and decide from there." She said simply as if it was the most logical choice in this matter.

Thace stared at her as if she had grown a second head and Ulaz snorted, shaking his head, "There is no way you can convince Kolivan to take the kit in."

Maveera grinned widely, shifting her hold securely around Lance before heading in the direction of the launch bay, "Just watch me."


	2. I'm Going To Raise This Human And There's Nothing You Can Do To Stop Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Absolutely not."  
> "Well, you don't have much of a choice because he's coming with me."  
> 'I agree with Maveera.'  
> "Antok no."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made antok mute bc i??? felt that it would be pr awesome???

"Absolutely not."

Was the first thing to come out of Kolivan's mouth when Maveera walked into the ship, carrying a nervously clutching Lance in her burly arms. She raised her brows, shifting Lance so he sat comfortably in one arm as she placed her other hand on her hip, cocking it to the side, "I hadn't even said anything yet," She huffed, tipping her head to the side with a wide grin, keeping still as Lance looked around the smaller escape ship. 

Kolivan huffed, narrowing his eyes at her as Antok crossed his arms silently behind their leader and mate. There was a group of Blade members, preparing the ship to get away from the now destroyed and out of commission prisoner ship. They paused in their preparations, varying expressions of interest turned to the trio as they stood before each other. Their arguments were legendary, and it was always entertaining to watch the three tall Galra bicker about the strangest subjects. Seeing the small child in Maveera's arms, they grinned to themselves, idly wandering around to finish up their work, but keeping an eye and ear on the three.

"We are not bringing that child with us to the Blade," Kolivan rumbled, glancing briefly at the small being before his attention snapped back to Maveera's grinning face, "It is too dangerous and he is too young."

Maveera frowned and tightened her hold on Lance as he leaned forward to stare at the blinking purple buttons towards the control panel of the ship. Antok soon caught the little one's attention and his wide blue eyes stared at the masked Galra, who shifted a little, mask turning to stare back at Lance curiously. The two didn't pay attention to Kolivan and Maveera as they stared at one another, "We can't leave him here, and there is no record of the planet he came from," the Galra woman argued.

Kolivan growled, "Then we will drop him off at a suitable planet where they are willing to take him in and raise him. Simple," Lance waved shyly at Antok, smiling brightly when the bigger Galra tilted his head to the side and, hesitantly, waved back to the little one. Behind his mask, Antok perked in delight as the child giggled at being responded to, trying to squirm out of Maveera's hold to go to the other interesting adult. 

Maveera merely tightened her grip and readjusted it, glaring at Kolivan in irritation now, "That would take far too much time. We do not know anything about his species to choose a truly suitable planet for him to be raised on!" She argued easily, back straight and stiff.

"And we do not know enough about his species to allow the kit to be raised amongst the Blade," Kolivan responded, marching closer to Maveera to stand before her, Antok following close behind. 

Maveera scoffed, "We raise other Galra cubs within the halls of the Blade; surely it would not be that difficult to raise one..." She trailed off, turning her attention to the squirming child in her arms, "May I ask what species you are, Lance?"

Lance's blue eyes crossed adorably in concentration, nose wrinkling slightly, "Uhm... I dunno..." he hummed before his eyes lit up brightly, "Oh yeah, Mama said w're human!" He proclaimed proudly; his mama had always said that he was a smart cookie, so he knew being able to remember was important!

Maveera cooed before turning back to Kolivan, "It's surely not difficult to raise one small human!" She huffed, tipping her chin back to glare down at Kolivan snootily like she knew he hated.

"They are Galran children born to members of the Blade, not strange, small humans we found-injured mind out-on a Galra prisoner ship!" Kolivan growled. The other members looked to one another worriedly; it looked like this was going to turn into one of their well-known shouting matches. Many of them winced, knowing that if it devolved into a shouting match that it would be them paying for it through harsh training for the next upcoming months. The small boy in her arms looked between Kolivan and Maveera worriedly, his squirming increasing in a panic at the uncomfortable atmosphere that he was stuck in. Lance began to sniffle, eyes quickly filling with water as he turned back to Antok, lower lip quivering as he seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Maveera sucked in a breath and seemed to be very close to losing her temper and say something she knew she would eventually regret when Antok plopped the child from her arms and into his own. He huffed silently, irritation rolling off of him, even with the mask out. He freed one of his hands to communicate with the both of them, 'You are frightening the kit,' He signed quickly, turning the two's attention to the slightly shaking child clutching to Antok's hood, 'We will return to base. There we should discuss this more after the kit is fed, bathed and put to sleep.'

Maveera's ears flattened guilty as she nodded, placing a gentle, clawed finger on Lance's chubby cheek to wipe the fearful tears that threatened to fall from his big blue eyes, "Shhh, it is alright, little cub. I am sorry for frightening you, please do not cry."

Lance sniffled slightly and hesitantly leaned back out to her, wanting her to pick him back up again. She did so easily, turning to her seat on the ship before buckling him in. She was more used to the accelerated speed of travel the ship would go into, so she could easily stand. But Lance, with only one leg after everything that had happened, and still being young enough to have difficulty balancing on his foot, would have too much difficulty with it. Maveera glanced up to see Antok standing at the control panel whilst Kolivan barked out quick orders, getting the rest of the crew ready for the journey back to base. She sighed and squared her shoulders; this was going to be a difficult conversation.

* * *

 

Antok stepped into his shared living quarters, setting his mask on a nearby table before turning his golden eyes upon the form of his mate. Maveera sat lazily in a chair by the bed, her sharp claws gently running through the cub, Lance's, hair as he slept peacefully under the blankets. The kit had his thumb in his mouth, turned on his side to face the Galra woman and breathing softly in quiet slumber. Antok moved to stand beside her, silent as they both watched the small kit sleep for a few moments.

Maveera turned her gaze up, exhaustion and worry lining her features as she searched Antok's rather emotionless features. Unable to find what she was looking for, she sighed and leaned further in her seat, "Where is Kolivan?" 

Antok made sure that she had her eyes on him before he began to sign quickly, 'He is still finishing up,' he motioned to the cub and raised his brow.

Maveera chuckled, "He fell asleep halfway through his meal," she murmured, glancing back down to the kit as he breathed a sigh, turning to lay on his back in his sleep. The Galra woman nibbled gently on her lower lip and looked back up to her mate, "Do you think I made a mistake?"

Antok took a moment to think, silently staring at her before turning his gaze to Lance, a soft look briefly flitting over his features before turning his gaze back to Maveera, 'I think that you saved a cub's life,' he signed, hesitating, before continuing slowly, 'But I also know that you allow yourself to become too attached easily. I am worried that you will have difficulty in letting the kit go, which leads me to believe you wish to keep him.'

She turned away guiltily, silent for a few moments before slumping, even more, crossing her arms across her chest, "He was the only one left. He is so... so small and vulnerable and he was so afraid, Antok," she whispered in the quiet room, her eyes running over Lance's small form, "He is so small, so young, and he has seen so much, experienced such pain and fear..." she trailed off, lifting her eyes up to Antok, gaze fierce and protective, "And yet, when he should have feared me, should have cowered away and cried more, he reached for me, trusted me to take him away and bring him to safety."

Antok sighed softly, rubbing his face tiredly before signing, 'You feel responsible. You wish to protect him.'

"I have never had these... feelings for any of the other cubs we have rescued before," She said softly, shutting her eyes, "I want to protect him, to keep him safe I want-" she cut herself off as the door to their shared quarters whooshed open, Kolivan walking into it. She could see that he had taken the time to bathe and seemed less tense and relaxed some. Now that the adrenaline and emotions from the fight had truly worn off, they could discuss options and plans without devolving into shouting.

Kolivan nodded towards them, eyes going down to the cleaned and fed cub that slept soundly in their bed and sighed harshly, pinching the bridge of his nose, "We have no experience with raising a cub, let alone one of another species," He muttered, turning his gaze to his mates.

Maveera looked away guiltily and nodded, "I know," She muttered, glancing at Lance and feeling a wave of protectiveness wash over her. She turned her gaze back up to the two males, hesitated, taking a fortifying breath, "But I wish to try. I do not feel comfortable with the thought of leaving Lance on a random planet with complete and absolute strangers."

"We are as much strangers to him as he is to us," Kolivan pointed out patiently, scarred eyebrow raised, seeing her face glare up at him stubbornly, "He is still too young and too fragile to even join the youngest group of kits," he held his hand up as he saw Maveera was about to argue, "but," Kolivan's features softened imperceptibly, gaze stuck on the small form on the bed, "if you truly wish to try and raise him, then... I will agree to allow the cub to stay and learn the ways of the Blade."

Maveera brightened up noticeably, an affectionate warmth directed towards him that he could feel through their mating bond, causing him to shift slightly and huff out a slightly irritable breath. They turned their gazes to Antok, who rolled his eyes lightly and moved his hands to sign quickly, 'If we are to try and raise this cub, we must do so as mates. We must all work together to ensure that Lance will grow to be a member of the Blade by choice.'

They both nodded seriously before Maveera grinned widely and stood up to stretch lazily, "In any case, we should try to give him his own quarters," she hummed, stepping up to the both of them and rumbling softly as the three allowed their scents to mingle together intimately. 

Three pairs of golden eyes looked to Lance as he yawned quietly, turning over in his sleep and rubbing his eyes, mumbling softly before settling in quickly once again. They were silent for a moment before Maveera cooed softly, "That was the cutest shit I've ever seen."

"Agreed."

'The cutest.'


	3. I Don't Think That's How You Make Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you-are you tryna pick a fight with me?!"  
> "Duh! If I gotta prove 'm strong, then I gotta fight ya!"  
> "I don' think you know how friendship works..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since i don't know how altean/space time really works here is how i see it:  
> tick=seconds [a little longer than earth ones]  
> spicolian half=5 minutes [1 spicolian=10 minutes]  
> varga=an hour  
> quintant=5 weeks/a month  
> dobosh=a year [there are 9-12 months in a year in this case, but we'll assume for the sake of the timeline there's 12 for the galra]

"No!"

"Lance, we've discussed this, we cannot always be with you and you need to interact with others your age-"

"I don't wanna!"

"Lance-"

"No! No, no, no, no, no!"

"Kabrne, listen to Mavi-"

The seven-year-old stuck his tongue out, causing Kolivan to give the human child a disbelieving look, Maveera gasping and clutching her heart dramatically. Behind them, Antok crossed his arms over his chest, disappointment filling his face as he stared directly at Lance, the little boy glaring at anywhere except the faces of his guardians. Hot, angry tears were gathering at the corners of his eyes, but he was too stubborn to let them fall-at least, for now.

The adults could feel the looks the other Blade members were giving the three. After all, their loud, usually cheerfull and boisterous cub was making quite the disturbance in the relative calm of the quiet base. Other parents were dropping their own cubs off, eyeing the little human and his guardians incredulously, but keeping to themselves.

Antok strode forward, kneeling before his pouting kit and waited for Lance to turn his gaze to the adult Galra. The little boy glared away fiercely before he finally turned his gaze back to Antok. The older man faltered slightly at the sight of the child's wobbly lower lip and watery eyes but steeled himself as he prepared to sign slowly. While Lance was slowly getting the hand of reading and conversing in basic Galran sign language, he still had difficulty reading the gestures if they were too fast or too complex. 

'I know you do not wish to leave our sides,' Antok began, face shifting the tiniest bit to make his harsh features more sympathetic, 'but you are older now, and cannot follow us continually around headquarters. We need to train, which you are still too young for, and go on missions regularly to help people. I know you do not wish to be alone, and this way you can make some acquaintances-and perhaps even friends-while we are away from you,' seeing the pout on Lance's face, Antok sighed and gestured more gently, 'Will you at least try for us, Kabrne?'

"But what if they don't like me?" Lance asked in a small voice, hand signs sloppy with his upset and shaking slightly, shifting from his right leg to his left prosthetic uncomfortably, "What if they think I'm weird or-or scary because of my leg? What if no one wants to be friend with me?" 

Maveera knelt next to Antok, signing rapid pace herself as she spoke, "You won't know unless you try, Lance," she spoke soothingly, giving the human child a comforting smile, "I'm certain that there will be children who will be willing to become your friend. Please, give them a chance?"

"And if they do end up unkind, then we will discuss what to do after," Kolivan said from where he still stood, golden eyes trained on Lance's doubtful features as the little one looked up, biting his lower lip.

While they had spoken the truth about wanting to ensure that Lance would make some friends his own age, and stay in the relative safety of the educational facilities until he was old enough to start training, the three Galra parents also felt the need to take a bit of a break. They'd come to find soon after taking Lance in, that while the human child had difficulty navigating with his prosthetic leg for a time and being so small, that he was filled with the energy of six Galra cubs. Galra Lance's age spent most of their time sleeping to preserve energy for growing and learning at a rapid pace, but it seemed that human children did not need the same, and had so much pent-up energy after naps that it was hard for three adults to keep up with him. 

It also didn't help, Kolivan mused, that Lance tended to wander off when his guardians were conversing with other Blade members, and it would take at the very least a varga to find the little one again after he had disappeared from their sides. The first time it had happened, the three had gone into a panic, searching the entire base twice over to find their cub, only for Antok to find him napping in their room after looking for six varga. Truly, they needed and highly deserved a bit of a break, and under the watchful eyes of the educational facilities, the three adults knew Lance would not be able to wander off without another adult stepping in and leading him back in.

Lance was quiet for a moment as he struggled to come up with a reason as to why he shouldn't be left in the education facilities by himself. Looking up at his guardians, however, the human child could see how tired and worried they were and knew they just wanted what they believed would be best for him. Sighing, he nodded, keeping his gaze on the ground as the two who had kneeled before him stood back up. Maveera took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, tugging Lance with her into the facility.

Though it was a room within the Blade headquarters, the education facilities had quite the comforting and homey feeling to them. There were several large bean-bag like chairs that were strewn carefully about, boxes with a variety of toys-both for playing and for chewing on-were spread evenly next to the row of desks towards the back, facing a large holographic board that currently seemed to be showing the time of day. Mats and rugs covered the floors, and there was a small play area for some of the younger cubs to stay in while the older ones learned basic skills such as reading and writing. 

All in all, it was lovely and seemed to set Lance a little at ease, even as he hid behind Maveera's legs. Big blue eyes roamed over the area, staring at the other children and adults that were spread around the room, interacting with one another. One of the adults, dressed in civilian clothing with a similar style to that of a dress in a light lilac color, waddled over to them with a cheerful smile. They were heavily pregnant, from what Lance could see from behind Mavi, and had an air that only those with impending motherhood seemed to be capable of. Lance eyed them curiously but stayed hidden behind Mavi, who greeted the other Galra warmly.

"Hello, Captain Maveera, General Antok, and Commander Kolivan! How may we be of service today?" The Galra asked warmly, their voice a soothing velvet purr that rumbled from deep within their chest cavity. Their golden eyes strayed curiously down to Lance, who waved a little shyly but stayed behind his guardian just in case.

"Hello Caretaker Tekavva," Maveera greeted cheerfully, turning her undivided attention to the pregnant Galra, "We are here to drop off our kit."

Tekavva's eyes widened and shone curiously, gaze flickering down to Lance who ducked behind Maveera, before looking up to the captain with a raised brow, "Is this the little human cub I've been hearing rumors about?" They asked, amused sympathy coloring their tone as they waited patiently for Lance to show himself to his caretakers while he stayed in the education facility.

Maveera nodded politely, looking down at Lance with an encouraging smile, gesturing for the little boy to come out from behind her. Lance gulped unsurely, but shuffled out from behind his guardian, clutching tightly to her suit as he glanced up at Tekavva.

The adult Galra kneeled before Lance and gave the boy a sweet smile, "Hello, little one! I am Tekavva, one of the caretakers of the educational facility. May I know your name?"

Lance looked up at Maveera, his gaze uncertain. Kolivan and Antok placed their clawed hands carefully on his shoulders, providing him with some comfort and solidarity as he turned his attention back to the kneeling caretaker. They waited patiently as Lance took some time, before murmuring softly, "My name's Lance... 's nice to meet you Tek-Teka-" he broke off, taking a deep breath to calm his uncertain stutter when trying to learn someone's name. Uncles Ulaz and Thace's names were relatively easy to nail down, but Tekavva's was a little more complicated for him, "Tekavva?"

Tekavva smiled brightly and nodded, making Lance relax at the enthusiastic way the adult smiled at him. He grinned proudly and stepped partly away from Maveera, his guardians breathing out sighs of relief, "It is nice to make your acquaintance, Lance. Would you like to join me for today? I promise you, you will find it quite fun and you will learn many amazing things!"

Lance hesitated, giving his guardians one last look. They all nodded encouragingly, lightly pressing on his upper back to send him forwards a bit. Lance took a small breath before releasing it with a nodded, walking over to Tekavva, his prosthetic leg lighting up brilliantly from the activity. Tekavva took Lance outstretched hand, heaving up to their feet once again and giving the three parents a nod and a smile.

"I will ensure that Lance has a good first day here in the facility, do not worry yourselves," They hummed, smiling down at the much shorter human boy beside them, who looked at his parents longingly, "Shall we say our goodbyes, for now, Lance?" They asked kindly, waiting for the boy to nod and wave to his guardians, before leading the child away to join a group of cubs who were in the same age group as himself.

Maveera stood there for a while, watching their cub go off on his first day in the facility and felt a wave of pride and-sadness?-come over her, turning and clearing her throat as she and her mates left. She made no comment about the grim line of Antok's mouth nor the shiny quality of Kolivan's eyes. They marched their way out of the facility, preparing themselves for a long day of hard work and training.

Back inside the facility, Lance stayed close to Tekavva as they introduced him to the group he would be joining. Lance looked over at all the taller cubs, gulping thickly at their curious gazes. Thankfully, none of them seemed particularly interested in him, though they nodded their heads in greeting to the human child. Lance stepped away from Tekavva, who led the cubs over to the desks up front, encouraging everyone to take a seat. 

For the next three varga, Lance spent a lot of time learning and perfecting the use of the common and Galra alphabets. It was hard, the letters sometimes got muddled up in his head and he was too nervous to ask any of the other cubs for help. Though none of them had shown any hostility to him, they also hadn't shown him any interest. Unsurprising, considering that most of these children had been coming to the education facility regularly with the others in this group and had already made connections to other cubs they were comfortable with. Lance frowned, tapping his writing equipment sullenly as he tried to memorize the Galran letters once more, writing them out sloppily as they'd been instructed to.

He continued to struggle for a bit before a small, clawed hand tapped on the edge of his desk hesitantly. Lance nearly bolted out of his seat, turning his head in the direction of the desk next to him. The other child, a Galra unsurprisingly, pulled their hand back hastily, seeming to hesitate for a bit before clearing their throat, "You need to curve the x more and the dots for the v should be closer together..." they trailed off, voice soft and shy, the hint of a lisp tinging their words as they spoke to Lance. To be fair, their teeth seemed to be large, much larger than the other cubs' teeth he'd caught a glimpse of now and then, which probably made speaking difficult for them. He was nearly a solid, dark purple, with only a few lilac accents lining his wide ears and big golden eyes. His hair-fur curled around his face gently, and he had a bit of an underbite, making his jaw more pronounced.

Lance grinned happily, brightening up when the other cub had helped him, "Thank you!" The human said cheerfully, quickly fixing up his sloppy mistakes under the careful watch of the other child. Once he'd finished, he turned his attention back to the other, a happy smile stretching his lips as he held his hand out to the other like Toka had taught him to do, "I'm Lance! What's your name?"

The Galra child seemed hesitant, before taking hold of Lance's hand and shaking it gently, "I am known as Sikkel. It is nice to meet you, Lance."

"It's nice to meet ya too, Sikkel!" Lance replied cheerfully, "Thank you for helpin' me! Learning letters is hard..."

Sikkel smiled, his big teeth gleaming in the warm lights of the education facility, perking up slightly as well. It seemed that the other child was just as nervous and jittery about being here and talking to strangers as Lance, which set the human at ease some, "It is no problem, Lance. I like learning letters and helping others," He said softly, and Lance nodded, glancing at Sikkel's own writing block, gasping at how neat and pretty his hand writing was.

"You're really good at it!" Lance complimented, making the other duck his head with a flustered blush staining his cheeks.

"Th-thank you, that is very nice of you to say..." Sikkel said, smiling at Lance brightly and slowly becoming more comfortable.

The two spent the rest of learning time chattering away with one another happily, ignoring the pair of golden eyes that seemed to be glaring heatedly at the smaller human. Once the chime for break time had rang, Sikkel offered Lance the chance to play together, and the human happily agreed, standing up from his chair excitedly. Sikkel got up slowly, towering over Lance and making the human gawk up at his friend. Sikkel was a fair bit bigger than the other Galra children, both in height and in weight, making him a rather imposing child that made the other cubs fairly nervous to be around him. Add to the fact that Sikkel's teeth were a fair bit bigger than there's and the rumors that his claws were super sharp, and the bigger boy didn't have many friends in the education facility.

Lance, however, merely beamed up at Sikkel, who had begun to become a little nervous as the human had gone quiet. Lance reached out to grab Sikkel's hands, his small fingers looking laughably small and delicate in opposition to Sikkel's big and-surprisingly blunt-claws, "Wow! You're really big! That's so cool!" Lance crowed, jumping a little excitedly as he continued to stare up at his friend.

Sikkel smiled, shyly but happily, shoulders relaxing when Lance hadn't tried to run away from him, "Ah, yes... my parents are both very big, so I too am pretty, uhm, big... are you not scared?"

"Why should I be scared?" Lance asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion, making Sikkel blush and duck his head with a small frown.

"Most of the other cubs are, uhm, scared because I'm bigger than them..."

"Well, that's jus' silly!" Lance huffed, puffing out is cheeks and shaking his head, "You're really nice! And cool! And you know how letters work!"

Sikkel smiled wider then, a pleased fluttering taking over his chest as Lance complimented him for his abilities, "Thank you, Lance."

Lance smiled widely, "'s no problem!" He cheerfully proclaimed, tugging the taller child with him to come play with the toys a little away from the rest of the crowd, who were watching the very small human and very big Galran in disbelief and a little awe. Lance and Sikkel settled themselves comfortably on a nearby mat, making sure that Tekavva could see where they had gone if their caretaker wanted to speak or check up on them.

They'd barely been playing for a half spicolian when someone stomped their way over to Lance and Sikkel. Sikkel immediately stopped, looking at the other Galra nervously as they came to stand in front of Lance, glaring down at the short human who looked up in confusion.

Before him stood another tall, but still a fair bit shorter than Sikkel, Galra child, an impressive glare on her face as she stared down at Lance. Her hair-fur was tied up in two messy pigtails, light purple and lilac accents splattered over her face as if someone had thrown paint on her. Her ears were smaller and more pointed, similar to uncle Ulaz's, with tiny kitten teeth that were bared at Lance in annoyance, an attempt to look intimidating. She stood there for a long moment before she finally spoke up, little clawed hands clenched angrily, "Fight me!"

Lance stared up at the other Galra in confused disbelief, looking around and then at Sikkel, who was staring at the other Galra incredulously, before returning his blue gaze to the one in front of him, "Uhm... what? Why?"

She scowled, an impressive feat for such a small, fuzzy face, before pointing over at Sikkel, whose ears had flattened against his head, "You can't jus' go around stealin' other people's friends! I'm gonna fight you to prove 'm stronger and a better friend to Sikkel!"

Lance stared at the girl as if she had lost her mind, slightly hurt that she would accuse him of stealing Sikkel as a friend. The person of the conversation piped up, slightly uncomfortable, "Pazza, I don't think that's how making friends works..."

Pazza pouted, sending Sikkel a hurt glare, before turning back to Lance and stepping forwards to the human in a threatening manner, making the smaller boy lean away from her nervously, "Fight me!"

"But why?" Lance asked, utterly confused, looking between Pazza and Sikkel, cocking his head to the side, "We can both be friends with Sikkel? We don't have to fight for him, y'know."

The suggestion seemed to floor Pazza, who stared down at Lance incredulously. Other Galra cubs had often snubbed Pazza for looking weird and interacting with Sikkel, so hearing Lance offering to be friends with both of them made the Galra falter slightly. She looked at Lance and Sikkel hesitantly, "Really?" she whispered, scuffing her toes against the rug that Lance was sitting on, her threatening demeanor falling away quickly.

"Yeah!" Lance chirped, perking up happily before scooching slightly so Pazza could sit between Sikkel and him comfortably, "I'm Lance, by the way! It's nice to meet ya!"

"...Pazza," The Galra mumbled, sitting between Lance and Sikkel, giving the human boy a curious and nervous look, before smiling slightly, "So, what're you guys playin'?"

Sikkel was the one to perk up now, "Oh, I was going show Lance how to do the Gork cake game! So, this is how you-"

* * *

The three children played and laughed together happily for the rest of the day, unbothered by the nervous looks they got from the other cubs or the shuffling of the group as they tried to avoid them. Lance had never felt so free and joyful when following his parents around the base all the time. He was so glad he'd given the education facility a chance!

By the time the day was done, Lance almost didn't want to go home. But seeing his three guardians waiting for him, the little human happily ran over to them, calling out an "I'll see you tomorrow!" To his friends, waving at them as they, too, headed over to their own parents, waving to him brightly in return. Coming to a stop in front of Kolivan, he happily flung his arms around the adult with a giggle. Maveera and Antok smiled brightly at seeing the happy smile of their cub, and even Kolivan's permanent frown seemed to lighten slightly at seeing their cub so happy.

Maveera kneeled down, ruffling Lance's brown hair affectionately, "So, how was your first day, Kabrne?"

Lance smiled widely, following his parents happily as they started to make their way back to their quarters, chattering up a storm, explaining in detail all that had happened during the day. He told them about lesson time, about play time, Sikkel and Pazza, and everything he could think to remember. The adult Galra relaxed, glad that the education facility had been a success and that Lance had managed to make friends. 

The three easily made their way back home, content and happy, their child skipping between them and talking all the while. 

 


	4. Do Not Cry, My Little One! Look, We Match Now!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I want you to train me."  
> "You must be prepared for a long and difficult road then, Kabrne."  
> "I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> while y'all had fun and games with the first 3 chapters, i studied the langst  
> otherwise known as, Lance gets a rude awakening at the tender age of 9  
> listen, we all had our fluff! and there will be more fluff! but this is also the blade of marmora, a rebel group that fights against the EMPIRE there's bound to be bad/angsty moments in this au ok

The hallways were always dimmed down when they landed. 

Antok supposed that it was a tactic designed by their enemies to give the Galra soldiers on these ships the upper hand. They never seemed to think about whether or not the rebels that sometimes attacked their ships were Galra themselves. Antok supposed it was because the Blade of Marmora wore masks to keep their identities a secret, in case they'd need to infiltrate the Galra empire in the future.

Antok breathed steadily, eyeing the soldiers who surrounded him. The air was grim, though the constant chatter of his mate from beside him helped Antok set his mind on the task. He glanced down at Maveera, seeing the tall woman fastening extra ammunition to her belt, her own mask sitting next to her inconspicuously. As the doors connecting them to the prisoner ship finally opened, Maveera's expression sharpened, swiftly tugging on her mask as they stormed out of their ship.

The plan was simple. Split into groups of four, cover the entrances and exits, incapacitate or destroy any sentries or soldiers that might be guarding the prisoners. Once that was done, free any survivors, hack into the mainframe for information on Galra movements and get out.

Antok allowed his claws to briefly trail over Maveera's hand, before gesturing for his squadron to follow him in the opposite direction his mate was taking. He glanced at his second, a fierce woman called Krolia, before nodding as they burst into one of the prisoner banks. They group made quick work of the sentries that headed towards them, killing them off quickly to ensure the relative safety of the prisoners. Krolia moved forward to keep an eye out for any more sentries, Antok beside her as the other two squadron members freed the prisoners, giving them directions to the hangar their ship had attached itself to.

Once the prisoners had left the room, Antok gestured for Krolia to keep close to their shooter, sticking to the front himself. His blade sung in his hands, an extension of his claws as he sliced and cut down his enemies, keeping his mind on the plan as best he could. 

They reached and freed two more prison banks before the stream of Galra soldiers and sentries tapered off. Finishing off one last sentry, he motioned for Krolia to take their technology specialist while he and their shooter kept watch. Krolia headed over to one of the prisoner terminals, beginning to hack into the Galra database as swiftly as she could. There was no telling if the other groups might have been overwhelmed, so it was best to hurry and leave.

Antok stood to attention when his communicator went off, Maveera's voice cutting into his mind, "Come in all groups, come in all groups, section twelve is overrun. I repeat section twelve is overrun."

Antok's shooter picked up as he tensed, all eyes and ears alert for any other enemies that may make their way towards them. They were currently in sector fifteen, directly below sector twelve, "Come in, group six, this is group eight. What is the problem?"

There was a tense moment of silence before the communicator crackled back to life, Antok's pulse starting to skyrocket as he heard the background sounds of fighting. It almost overwhelmed Maveera's voice as she cussed, her own rifle making its signature firing sound, "We had minimal problems with sectors ten and eleven before we realized that they'd set up an ambush in sector twelve. We're undermanned, there must be at least sixty sentries and twenty-no, wait, eighteen-stand still you son of a yarkflog-soldiers. We're requesting immediate backup, we already have one man down."

Antok was already heading to the exit, quickly rushing up to where his mate was busy fighting. His shooter cursed under his breath, following their squad leader quickly, telling Krolia to stay with their technologist when she began to follow them. It would take Antok at least one spicolian to reach Maveera's team, and they didn't have the time to wait for the other teams to respond. His adrenaline surged through him as he ran to the beat of gun blasts and Maveera's heavy breathing, which in and of itself was worrying. There should be no reason for Maveera to be breathing so heavily as the shooter specialist unless she had engaged enemy combatants to a duel, which was very unlikely.

Antok sped around the corner, spotting several sentries blocking off the entry to sector twelve and delved right into the fray, elegantly slashing and taking the robotic soldiers down easily. He tried to eye around the room, looking for his mate and felt his stomach plummet at the sight of three other Blade bodies spread over the room. The loud curse from his shooter specialist brought him back, and he immediately engaged with several other enemy combatants.

As they fought, Maveera's breathing kept getting heavier, which worried him greatly. He managed to spot the barrel of her rifle as it poked out from behind a table and felt some of the tension unfurl around him. He must have only turned away for a tick when Maveera's voice rang out in a cry of pain, causing him to whirl away from the soldier he had currently engaged, who was finished off by several other Blade members.

Antok felt the sharp claws of fear pierce his gut as a soldier, clearly, Galra and clearly not a sentry, pulled his sword out of Maveera's shoulder with a sickening squelching sound that rang through Antok's sensitive ears. He snarled, leaping at the soldier as he flicked some of his mates blood of his blade, swinging his sword around in a high arch to bring it down for a killing blow. Antok's own Blade made a harsh clanging sound as it engaged with the soldier's sword.

It only took a handful of ticks before the enemy soldier was disposed of, Antok's rage making him rougher, more vicious in his attacks. Once the enemy fell to the metal flooring with a dull, lifeless thunk, Antok turned back to Maveera, who was valiantly trying to press down on her bleeding wound. Now that he had a good look at her, Antok felt the fear rush back in ten times stronger, her pain a dull throb in the back of his mind as he rushed over to her.

Someone must have gotten in a lucky shot, as one of the glass eyepieces from her mask was punctured, leaving a heavily bleeding hole where Antok knew her eye was, most likely piercing the soft flesh and gouging it out painfully as she had continued to fight. Her left arm hung limply beside her as she clutched the gushing shoulder in a valiant effort to stop the bleeding. The sounds of battle faded out as Antok fell beside her, placing his own hands over her shoulder and pressing on it, trying to stop the bleeding as best her could.

"H-Hey there handsome. Come-d'you come 'round here often?" Maveera's voice slurred through the speakers of her mask, and if Antok could make a sound he would have laughed hysterically. Her right arm reached up to him to cup his masked cheek and he leaned into it, pulling out a bandage from the medical kit hanging from his belt, wrapping up the wound as best he could in these circumstances, "Think I woulda-woulda rem'bered a pretty guy like you 'round these parts..."

Maveera sighed lightly, going lax, mumbling nonsensically as he worked to stop the bleeding from her shoulder. He snarled as someone placed a hand on his shoulder, claws aimed threateningly at Krolia's face. She was silent, staring him down as she barked orders to the others, telling them to retreat back to the hangar so that they could escape as quickly as possible. Antok pulled his claws back from her, turning back to his mate and lifting Maveera up in his arms.

"General, we really shouldn't-" Antok cut her off by moving past her. They needed to get back to base as soon as possible, or she wouldn't make it. It was grimly silent as the Blade hurried their way back to their ship, helping the rest of the freed prisoners onto it before entering themselves and starting it up.

Antok could only hope Maveera would hold on.

* * *

Lance stared silently at the door to the infirmary, his mouth set in a thin line and tension tightening up his muscles.

He'd been pulled out of the education facility by Vani a varga ago. At first, he'd been very excited, as the lesson had been extremely boring, and had practically skipped over to Vani before he caught the frown on his father's face. Now, Vani frowned A LOT, but Lance was good at reading the differences between his father's frowns now. And this wasn't a frown that said he'd come to rescue Lance from a boring lesson. This was a frown that meant something really, really bad had happened, and Lance had felt his stomach clench anxiously as his guardian led him silently out of the room.

His guardian had been frowning deeply, and the unsettling clench of fear in his gut had tightened when Vani explained why he'd pulled Lance from class, not even getting a chance to say goodbye to Sikkel or Pazza. Lance felt sick, felt like his prosthetic had stopped working and that he was about to fall to the floor from how weak his knees had become. The journey to the medical bay had been done in a haze, the words repeating themselves over and over in the child's mind like some sick mantra he couldn't get rid of.

_"Mavi was badly hurt on her last mission. Toka and I didn't want to leave you alone while she was in the medical wing."_

Lance was so out of it, simply trying to remember to breathe, that he hadn't noticed the shocked look coming from the Galra woman that stood at attention by Toka's side. Lance had gone straight to his other father, giving and receiving a clutching embrace as the adult Galra pulled him up into his lap, curling around Lance protectively, his golden eyes glued to the med bay doors. Lance didn't notice the Galra woman eyeing him, a tight expression flitting over her face before she masked it back into the usual Galra stoicism. 

Vani came to sit beside them, one of his hands taking Toka's as he rumbled softly, trying to provide wordless comfort to his mate while Mavi was in the operating room. They must have sat there, waiting, for at least two varga. No one gave them any updates, just grim looks when they asked about Mavi's condition. And so, they stopped asking, watching the doors vigilantly and waiting, hoping, praying that their third, Lance's mother in all but blood, would be alright. 

Finally, a medic came up to them, clearing their throat and giving a clear, detailed explanation as to what operating room. Lance tried to pay attention, he really did, but the medic's words kept rebounding in his head.

_"...Lost an eye... had to amputate her left arm..."_

Lance felt like he couldn't breathe. Like all the air in his lungs had been forced out of him in one big exhalation. It felt like there were claws, long and black and sharp, clutched around his small neck, tightening harshly whenever he tried to draw breath. He tried to remember the breathing exercises Mavi had taught him, but the thought of his mother made it even worse. Tears collected and rolled out of his big blue eyes, and both Toka and Vani were calling to him softly, running hands comfortably over his cheeks and back and through his hair and Lance was trying, trying so hard to breathe but it wasn't working!

"Easy, easy, Kabrne. Just breathe with me, in, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. In, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." Vani's voice managed to break through the cloud of Lance's mind and he took big, gulping breaths, desperately clutching at Toka's bag hands for something to ground himself with. He felt the rumbling purr of his other father against his back, the vibrations providing the smallest bit of comfort and making it easier to pay attention to what Vani was telling him to do.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lance started to calm down. His breathing evened out and he could finally get some air into his small lungs, "Good, you're doing good, Kabrne," Vani mumbled softly as Lance weakly leaned back against Toka, sobs tapering out into soft whimpers as he looked between his fathers.

"Is-is Mavi gonna die?" He asked, hiccuping sadly and felt a fierce wave of relief rush through him when bother of them shook their heads. A loud sob left him, and he relaxed back into Toka's arms more, calming down slowly.

Once he was calm, a boneless heap in Toka's arms, the two of them stood, hesitating, before Vani brought Lance's attention back to him, "Would you like to go see Mavi?" He asked quietly and Lance nodded.

Somehow, seeing Mavi asleep in the bed, bandages covering the right side of her face wrapped gently in bandages and her left side devoid of an arm, was both better and worse at the same time. On one hand, if Lance had stayed out in the waiting room, he could have pretended, for a little while at least, that the Mavi behind the door would still be the same Mavi he'd seen this morning; whole and healthy, not missing an eye or an arm. But here, in the room, Lance was forced to deal with the reality that his mother had been so, so close to not being here anymore. 

It was a chilling thought, one that pierced through his nine-year-old mind and stuck. He understood, in some way, that death was permanent and irreversible, that it was something all beings that were alive must one time face; his parents had explained the concept to him as soon as possible, wanting him to understand, on some small level, that death was a real thing that the Blade dealt with and that Lance must learn to accept as he was raised here. But understanding a concept and truly accepting one are two very different things. 

Lance, for the first time since he was brought to the Blade, felt fear. Fear for himself, for his parents, for the people that he cared about in the Blade. He felt fear for Sikkel and Pazza, for Tekavva and their little cub. Lance felt the fear of loss, of loneliness, settle under his skin. He barely remembered his time as a prisoner, but the marks were still there in his dreams, in the prosthetics he had to use to be able to walk. Lance eyed Mavi and felt his heart clench, knowing that she, too, would also have to use a prosthetic now to be able to continue being an active sharpshooter, a member of the Blade of Marmora.

However, within the large wave of fear, Lance felt a surge of determination. He knew that, if he wanted to, the Blade would offer him training. He could train to become a fighter, a warrior, someone who protected those he cared about and fought to free those in captivity. He could be a member of the Blade.

Lance's thoughts were distracted by a groan coming from the bed and he turned his big blue eyes to his mother, tears spilling from them as he saw her waking up. Toka set him down on the floor, and he rushed over to Mavi, gently getting up on the bed beside her as both Vani and Toka stood behind him.

Mavi opened her one eye and groaned softly, a smile curling her lips as she looked up at the three of them, "Hey there, cuties," She murmured, trying to reach up with her left arm to tuck a lock of Lance's curly hair out of his eyes, frowning when it didn't move. Her eye suddenly became more clear and she looked down to her left, frowning at the sight of her missing arm, "Oh... so that wasn't a feverish nightmare then."

Lance sobbed and Mavi's eye turned back to him, the slight hint of fear in her face morphing into an expression of sorrow and worry. She lifted her right arm, wiping away Lance's tears as they fell, "Shhhh, Kabrne... why the tears? I am still here."

"B-but you're in-inj-injured," Lance whimpered, looking down at his mother as she smiled sadly and shrugged, hissing when it pulled on her tender new stitches. 

"So what? I made it back, did I not?" She asked softly, pulling Lance's face down to peck his cheeks softly and Lance huffed a small laugh, "There we are. Besides..." she grinned, tapping his metal leg with her claws, "now we match!"

Lance did burst into laughter then, curling close to Mavi as she allowed him to tuck his face in her neck. He tuned out of her conversation with Toka and Vani, the thoughts from before swirling in his mind as he calmed his tears. He wanted this, he thought, glancing back at the relieved expressions of Vani and Toka, snuggling closer to Mavi. He wanted to be trained, to protect those he cared for.

"I want you to train me," His soft voice interrupted their conversation, bringing five eyes to his bigger, but still small, form. Lance ducked his face sheepishly, glancing up at the three adults who waited for him to continue. He swallowed thickly, and cleared his throat, "I want to be trained. To become a Blade member."

They sucked in sharp breaths. A silent conversation took place between the three adults, one that Lance was not privy to, as even Antok didn't make any signs. He fidgeted anxiously, fearing that they'd deny him the chance to become a member. He knew he wasn't a Galra, by blood or body, and feared for a moment if he would be denied membership because he was a human.

Kolivan nodded sharply and Antok sighed, turning to Lance and signing quickly, 'Is this truly what you want, Lance?'

Lance felt the tension in Mavi, and once he nodded, she seemed to relax, her right hand stroking his hair gently, "It is."

"Then, you must be prepared for a long and difficult road then, Kabrne," Kolivan said seriously, his golden eyes locked with Lance's blue. Lance felt his determination wobble for a second, before a sad smile crossed his face, leaning back into Mavi.

"I know."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID U RLLY THINK I WAS ACTUALLY GONNA KILL HER OFF????? MY WIFE??? ME????  
> tbh i thought about it


	5. Puns, Jokes and Rescue Missions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I suppose you could say both Lance and I gave up an arm and a leg to join the Blade."  
> "Never speak in my presence again."  
> "Wow, someone's got a magnetic personality!"  
> 'These puns and jokes are awful, please stop.'

Lance groaned, standing before his old training area, waiting for Pazza and Sikkel to show up so they could hurry and head to the briefing room.

The now nineteen year old human scowled, fiddling idly with the grooves and divots of his mechanical leg. He'd recently had it upgraded for the last time, the black metal glowing a deep indigo instead of the Blade's usual purple lighting. Lance admired the craftsmanship, running soft fingers over the smooth metal as he did so, fingering the empty area his new blade would be hidden in once he'd been given it.

The blue-eyed young man allowed his thoughts to wander, thinking back to this morning's last training session with his parents, smiling softly. True to fashion and promise, Mavi had gotten a matching arm to Lance's leg, glowing a deep golden instead of an indigo colour as his. He eyed his mother, who leaned against the wall beside him, flirting outrageously with a stoic Antok, his face on full display for the first time outside their shared chambers. Lance snorted at a particularly bad pick up line ["Hey baby, are you a training droid? Cause I want you to destroy my ass."] and smiled, relaxing as he waited for his friends.

He glanced up to her eyes, the right one containing a new prototype for ocular restoration, watching as the 'pupil', a camera lens of some kind with black metal discs that slide against one another as the pupil shrunk or expanded, the golden glow of the camera standing out against the gnarly scarring that surrounded the new eye. He frowned slightly, before shaking his head and taking a deep breath. No thinking about the lost eye. 

Hearing footsteps, Lance turned his head lazily, springing upright with an excited grin when he saw Pazza and Sikkel making their way over to him. Sikkel had shot up even more over the years, towering at an impressive eight-and-a-half-feet. He'd finally grown into his claws and teeth, no longer struggling to speak in lisps around the large obstructions in his mouth, and he grinned as he saw Lance, waving lightly to the smaller human man. His fur had lightened in adulthood, less purple and more lavender in complexion, white and gold colouring curving in an aesthetically pleasing way around his eyes, nose and mouth. Once upon a time, Lance had commented that it looked pretty, though the compliment had come from his own attraction to his larger friend. The attraction had faded out softly after a while, but his affection for the other had not.

"Lance! Sorry we're late, there was a huge line at the cafeteria and our instructors let us out later than expected!" Blue eyes drifted over to Pazza and he grinned, a look that was shared with the other. In puberty, Pazza had lost the common fur that was the norm for most Galra, growing a protective and thick scale covering over the top of her head, sides of her cheeks, and down her back, ending in a long, sweeping tail behind her. They were a dark purple colour, her face a stark spattering of light cream in contrast to the scales. Her ears were still large, standing out to the sides in the areas her scales broke apart, a deep black in colour as they flicked every which way. 

Lance waved them over, falling into step beside them. He said his goodbyes to Antok and his Maveera-Mavi ruffled the free strands of hair that stood out from his long braid, a fashion statement she shared with him, and Antok surprised him with a brief hug, patting his shoulder and signing that they would see him when he returned-before the three younger, newly graduated Blade members wandered off, "No problem," He said with a shrug, "I wasn't waiting too long, anyway. Are you both ready for your first mission?"

Sikkel scoffed, tossing his head back with a laugh, while Pazza shared a look with Lance. Sikkel turned a wide grin to the two smaller friends, and confidently stated, "We are as ready as we will ever be. We have been preparing and training for this moment for years."

Pazza nodded, a small frown on her face, "That's true. The only thing that makes me especially nervous and worried is that none of us will be together during our first missions."

Lance sighed, "Yeah, that's a bit... egh," he grumbled, but shrugged lightly, "I'm not too worried though. I know that, while we work extremely well together as a team, the three of us are pretty good going solo too."

"Hm..." Pazza grumbled, "I'm still not comfortable with it. Wouldn't it be a better idea to have all of the newbies together on one mission, instead of spreading them out in several different locations?"

Sikkel and Lance shared a knowing look, a teasing smile on Lance's face as he nudged Pazza lightly with his elbow, "You just don't want to end up on a team with Zaxx or Rordan."

Pazza hissed slightly and glared at Lance, who stuck his tongue out at her, "They're both muscle bound idiots. I have no idea how either, especially both, of them even passed the last tests."

Sikkel nodded and Lance shrugged. The tests were regarded as the most difficult and telling times of a young Blade member's life. Lance winced as he felt his shoulder throb in memory of being held down and interrogated for the better part of an hour, reaching up to rub it slightly and shaking his head, "You need to let go of your grudge sometime, Pazza. Both of them managed to pass the tests, meaning that they have much more to offer to the Blade than you believe they do."

"They're still idiots, and if I had to chance, I'd deck them," Pazza grumbled and Sikkel nodded with a shrug, though there was a sheepish and nervous look on his face. Lance narrowed his eyes and raised a brow, but Sikkel shook his head, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he looked away. Lance shrugged.

The three continued to banter for a bit before they reached Kolivan's office. Lance squared his shoulders and allowed a neutral expression to fall over his face, glancing at his friends to see that they had done the same. Sikkel knocked and they heard a barked "Come in," before they marched in. The three saluted Kolivan and stood at attention. Lance allowed his gaze to wander over the other twenty new Blade candidates, before turning his blue gaze back to Kolivan.

"At ease," His father grumbled, gesturing for the three of them to join their old class and training mates. Lance allowed himself to slouch, an easy smile forming on his face. He sent several of the new and older graduates a flirtatious wink, the gesture gaining a couple eye rolls from the others within the crowd.

Kolivan eyed the new Blade members, before nodding in satisfaction and gesturing for several veterans to step forth. Each veteran held a new, gleaming Blade, similar in make and model that all of the Blade of Marmora swords and daggers were. All except one. Lance's gaze was captured by it, and he sucked in a surprised breath as the sight of the gleaming blue and silver blade. The veterans walked through the crowd, giving the blades to their new masters. Finally, Lance was given his own, and he stared down at the silver and blue blade in awe.

He'd known, in some way, that he wouldn't be getting a traditional blade. After all, he had no Galra blood running through his veins, so getting a blade that was activated by one with a Galra bloodline would serve no purpose for Lance. He'd been expecting a simply sword like he'd used so many times in training. Now, as he picked up the blade and tried to find some way to activate it, pressing his grip firmly into the handle and watching as it activated in a glimmer or gold light, Lance felt immensely grateful for the blade, the weight and size of it a comfort.

His blue gaze went down to his leg and Lance grinned, deactivating the blade. Carefully, the human slotted the blade into the empty space within the intricate machinery of his leg, and watched as it seemed to camouflage itself to look just like the rest of his leg. Lance huffed an amused breath, stealth technology huh? They'd truly thought of everything for his blade. He then turned his attention fully to Kolivan, who cleared his throat and stood from his desk, eyeing the new Blade members before beginning to call out names and handing them files for their individual missions.

Lance waited patiently as everyone was called, but started to get nervous the more and more people left the room. Once Pazza and Sikkel were called up, the two being paired off with Zaxx and Rordan, much to Pazza's disgust-judging by her expression-and Sikkel's blushing delight, Lance was the only candidate still left. The human faltered, swallowing thickly and watching as his father dismissed the last four, sitting behind his desk and motioning Lance over with a stern expression.

Lance stepped forth and fidgeted in front of Kolivan's desk. Kolivan eyed his charge for a few more moments, before letting out a gruff sigh and handing Lance a tablet, the files for his mission and details about the plans in clear writing glaring up at the younger man. Lance released a relieved breath, taking the tablet and scanning over the information, listening to Kolivan as he explained the mission to him. 

Lance frowned. Apparently he would be accompanying Ulaz to rescue a high level prisoner from one of Zarkon's main ships. Lance opened the files containing the prisoner pictures and details. No name, unsurprisingly, the current reigning Galra Champion. Highly dangerous, probably unstable, he's been among the Galra and had been Champion for over a dobosh now. Lance tapped on one of the pictures and nearly dropped the tablet in his shock. An older man stared up at him, grim faced and scarred, grey eyes and strong jawline, pale skinned but unmistakably human. He looked different from Lance, pale skin, dark hair and eyes, broad shouldered and a little older, but there was no doubt that he was human. Lance's blue eyes scanned for a species name and was confused. The data said he was of the 'Earthling' species, and Lance looked up at Kolivan.

"Vani, he's-what-I don't-why-?" He stammered and Kolivan's shoulders slumped some.

The older Galra sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, before looking back up to Lance, a contemplative frown on his face, "He's human, like you. He also knows the planet you are from," Kolivan rumbled and Lance's legs felt weak, "Mavi, Toka and I figured you would be the best choice for this mission, as you are both of the same species, so he might trust you more than he would Ulaz..." Kolivan trailed off and let out another, more tired sigh, "and... we believe that he may be able to bring you back to Earth."

Lance looked stricken, his hands shaking as he set the tablet on the desk before him, trying to will away the traitorous tears that threatened to fall from his blue eyes as he cleared his throat, "Are... are you sending me away? Don't you want me here anymore? What did I do wrong, I promise I'll never do it again-"

Kolivan shook his head and held up a hand, looking stern, "Lance, do you truly think that we would send you away after so many doboshes? No," He soothed and Lance breathed a sigh of relief, "We wished to send you on this mission so that you would have the opportunity to visit your home planet. We want you to see where you came from, to experience the lives and culture of your own people, and then you may choose if you wish to stay or return back to the Blade."

Lance swallowed thickly and nodded, wiping at his eyes before taking a breath to calm down his racing heart, "Oh... that's-that's fine..." He hesitated, biting his lower lip harshly, "What if I wanna come back?"

"Then we will welcome you back. It truly is your choice Lance and we would respect either decision you make," Kolivan said softly, standing to walk around his desk and envelop the smaller human in a hug, one which Lance returned easily, leaning into his father for a bit before pulling back.

"...Okay," He mumbled thickly, pulling away and saluting once more with a wobbly smile, "I'm gonna go meet Ulaz for our mission now, then."

Kolivan smiled, the smallest of smiles that always helped sooth Lance and make him happy, before schooling his expression and nodding firmly, saluting his charge once more, "Then the best of luck, Lance. Be vigil, be silent."

Lance nodded, and exited the office. Leaning against the door for a bit, he took a sharp breath, before pushing off from the wall and heading to the flight docks. It was going to be okay. The mission would be fine.

* * *

Of course Lance's first mission would go tits up the moment they docked the main ship.

 He and Ulaz had been captured within only a handful of ticks after stepping off their ship, barely managing to hold off the sudden hoard of sentries to send the rest of their team away from the ship. Now they were being dragged through long, brightly lit purple hallways. 

 Lance groaned, his head thumping painfully as he glanced back at Ulaz. The other seemed mostly fine, though his face was twisted up into a snarl and Lance flinched as one of the Galra soldier-actual soldiers, not sentries, not easy to read or defeat for the purpose of escape-slammed the butt of his gun into the other's unprotected face. They'd been stripped of their masks almost immediately, and Lance felt so naked without it hiding his identity now.

They were thrown into a cell, and Lance was immediately back on his feet, eyeing for possible escape routes as Ulaz tried to free himself from his cuffs, cursing up a storm and snarling at the retreating backs of the Galra soldiers. Lance tested his own cuffs and sighed in irritation, before gaping as his eyes fell onto another figure that was in the same cell as them.

Curled up in the furthest corner from the front of the cell, was the Champion, eyeing Ulaz warily as he finally managed to break out of his cuffs. Lance's sharp intake of breath caught the Champion's attention, and grey eyes widened in shock at the sight of Lance, who couldn't stop from staring at the other man. 

The Champion's gaped for a few moments, flinching when he heard Ulaz bang on the glowing bars of the cell. Lance's attention went back to his partner and he groaned, "Ulaz, you need to calm down. We can't come up with a new plan if you're going to keep snarling at the cell bars."

Ulaz stilled and whipped around to face Lance with narrowed golden eyes. For a moment, he seemed like he was going to snap at the smaller human before he sighed harshly, "You are right," He growled lowly, frowning as he saw Lance was still cuffed, striding over to the human and helping him out of them. Lance mumbled his thanks and rubbed his wrists slightly, frowning and turning his attention back to the Champion, then to Ulaz and groaned.

"So much for a rescue mission," He huffed and Ulaz chuckled, shaking his head. His golden eyes finally seemed to notice the Champion sitting a little away from the two of them and took a double take, just as shocked as Lance to see the other human here.

"Did they really put us in the same cell of the person we were trying to free?" Ulaz asked incredulously and Lance laughed, nodding slightly.

"Seems to be the case," Lance said with a grin, turning back to the Champion. He hesitated for a moment before stepping closer to the other human, who scrambled to his feet, falling automatically into some kind of fighting stance. Lance stopped and held up his hands, showing that he was unarmed [not true, but he didn't think he'd be able to immediately grab his blade to defend himself should the Champion attack], "Whoa, Champion. We're not here to hurt you. We're the good guys."

The other human scoffed, still crouched defensively as he eyed Lance and Ulaz suspiciously, "You expect me to believe that when you're conversing so easily with a _Galra_."

Lance frowned at that and tilted his head, gesturing to Ulaz and then himself, "Uh, yeah? Unless you hadn't noticed, neither of us received a friendly greeting from the soldiers," He said wryly, before standing straight and keeping his hands loosely to his sides, keeping them where the Champion could see them clearly, "I'm Lance and this is Ulaz. We're from the Blade of Marmora, a rebel group that fights against the Galra empire," hesitantly, Lance held out his right hand to the Champion, something deep in his memory coming to the fore, the ghosts of two figures teaching him human gestures of greeting.

The Champion continued to eye them suspiciously for several long seconds, before relaxing out of his fighting stance and, warily, taking Lance's out stretched hand, shaking it firmly, "Takashi Shirogane, but I prefer just being called Shiro."

Lance grinned widely, pulling his hand back, ignoring the shiver that went down his spine at the rough tone of Shiro's voice, "Cool! Nice, okay, right, well..." he trailed off, unsure how to continue the conversation, but it seemed he didn't have to as Shiro stepped closer to the two of them.

"So, what are you two even doing here?" Shiro asked curiously, eyeing Ulaz as he turned away from the two humans, looking over the cell to try and find some way to escape before their captors returned to interrogate them. 

"Well, we were here to break you out," Lance said sheepishly and Shiro snorted.

"Was getting captured part of the plan?"

"Hey, it's my first day man!" Lance huffed, easily falling into a comfortable conversation with the other human.

Shiro raised his brows, eyeing Lance, "Uh-huh. So, how exactly are you supposed to break me out if both of you are in here as well?" Lance opened his mouth before clicking it shut and shrugged sheepishly, turning his attention to Ulaz, who snorted.

"We have a man on the inside," Ulaz answered easily, his golden eyes sliding over to the prison bay doors when they opened, a wide grin stretching his lips. 

Thace stepped in front of the cell, a mockingly stern expression on his face as he eyed the three prisoners, his lips twitching with the barest hint of a smile, "I have orders to bring you two in for interrogation. Behave and I won't have to use force on any of you," He said gruffly, tapping out the code for the cell, purposely making himself sloppy with his attention. There were cameras around, after all, and if they didn't want to blow his cover, he'd have to pretend to be an imperial soldier while removing them for 'interrogation'.

Once the cell bars materialized, Ulaz mouthed a brief 'sorry, dear' to his mate, before quickly attacking and incapacitating him. He turned to the two humans and gestured for them to follow him, "We need to hurry. The escape bay is a spicolian away from here, according to the maps from the files."

Lance nodded and exited the cell, while Shiro seemed to hesitate. He looked over the other two for several long ticks, before deciding to trust them. If this was some sort of test or trick for breaking Shiro's spirit more, then he'd deal with that later. Right now, he'd take any chance he could to get the hell out of Galra prison. He stepped out of the cell, and the three of them quickly left.

It took longer for them to get to the escape bay than they thought it would, having to engage and take down several sentries and soldiers on their way there. The alarms started blaring by the fifth sentry, and they were rushing to the doors. Lance had pulled out his blade, keeping an eye out for any soldiers that may try to ambush them as Ulaz worked on overriding the locks for the escape bay doors. Shiro stood tensely beside Lance, his Galra arms glowing brightly, the energy coming from it making Lance shifty and uncomfortable. Druid magic condensed into a robotic form. Lance had heard about it, but had never seen it in action before. To see it attached to someone of his species was very... disconcerting.

The doors slide open and Lance breathed a deep sigh, staying to the back as Shiro and Ulaz went in first, the only one with a weapon currently. The three of them rushed over to the escape pods and Lance hesitated, watching as Shiro got into one and Ulaz stood before another. He bit his lip, knowing that he was meant to go with Shiro, but aching to leave with Ulaz. His uncle figure noticed and sighed, turning to Lance and placing a hand on the human man's shoulder.

"You must go with him Lance. This is a great opportunity for you to learn about yourself! To learn about where you came from and who you are," He trailed off, and Lance looked away, frowning.

"I know! I just..." Lance shrugged and Shiro paused, eyeing the two of them in confusion. There was a loud bang outside the bay and Ulaz cursed loudly, gripping Lance's shoulder and shoving the smaller human into the same pod as Shiro.

Ulaz grinned at Shiro's surprised squawk and Lance's loud 'hey!' before pressing the button for the pod door to start closing, shutting Lance in with the other human, "You have the communication device needed to reach us if anything goes wrong! Now go!"

Shiro didn't hesitate, ignoring Lance's screech of "Wait!", launching the pod off into space. He set the co-ordinates for where he knew earth was situated and leaned back to try and make himself comfortable, something very difficult if you have a lap full of squirming human. 

Lance finally managed to scramble off of Shiro's lap and banged on the pod's door, yelling angrily. Shiro couldn't make out what the language was, but the younger man seemed very angry at the moment. After a while, Lance slumped, coming to sit beside Shiro with a small groan.

Lance rubbed his eyes and glanced back at Shiro, his irritation and fear welling up within him again. The silence that filled the cockpit of the escape pod was awkward and tense, both humans eyeing each other warily. Shiro didn't know what to say, and Lance didn't want to lash out at the other while in close quarters with him. He didn't want to go to this Earth, didn't want to see what human life was like. He wanted to go back home to the Blade headquarters, where Mavi would welcome him back with a hot cup of Ziq'ul milk and a fresh meal. Home where Vani and Toka would spar with him, home where he could mess around with Pazza and Sikkel. He felt a wave of grief and homesickness wash over him then, and looked out into the deep, black abyss of space.

"Well shit," Lance sighed, letting his head thunk back against the door to the escape pod. 

_Worst first mission, ever._

* * *

Light years away, on a bright blue planet, a young Garrison cadet sat on a rooftop with their roommate beside them. They'd snuck out of their dorm to relax on the rooftop, listening to alien chatter for the rest of the evening, unaware of the quickly incoming escape pod making a beeline for their exact co-ordinates.

Another lay awake on a dusty old couch, eyes burning and fixed on the cork board filled to the brim with pictures, articles and news clipping, the lonely gnawing of his self imposed isolation filling him up and chasing away any sleep he should be getting. He turned over, ignoring the painful tug in his chest when he saw the deep night sky, a wistful need for the far abyss of space aching in his chest. Unaware of the people he'd have to rescue from the Garrison soon.

On this big, blue planet, deep in a cave underground, machinery creaked awake. Golden eyes flickered and a purr rumbled through the cave.

Her paladin was coming home.


	6. Well, That Rescue Mission Blows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro sighed with relief, rubbing his sore wrists. He smiled and was about to say something when a sharp, loud voice interrupted them. The two young men turned their attention to the still open door, semi-surprised to see Iverson blocking the exit. The old blowhard looked like he was about to yell at them, Keith quickly rushing up to him and landing a solid kick to his ex-superior officer's nose. He heard a satisfying crunch of Iverson's nose breaking, a smirk flitting over his lips, before he turned to Shiro.

"Pidge, I _really_ don't think we should be out here. It's past curfew. Sneaking into the kitchens for a midnight snack should _not_ have lead to you cajoling me into joining you in your weird alien space date up on the roof."

Pidge sighed, pulling off their headphones from their ears and looking over at their roommate in irritation, "For the last time, it's not an alien space date. I'm listening in to satellite frequencies from millions of light years and decoding them on my laptop."

Hunk frowned nervously, fidgeting and glancing back to the roof exit every few moments. Pidge could see the sweat beading on his brow. Why she'd decided to ask Hunk to join her in her nightly excursions to the roof she'd never know. Probably because he'd been so nosy into where she went every night after curfew. Right. That's why.

Pidge's attention drifted from her friend when her headphones crackled back to life, brown eyes flitting excitedly over the decoding software on their laptop. They could hear Hunk shuffle closer to them and swiftly smacked away his twitching hands, knowing how much the other liked to fiddle and take apart machinery to figure out how it worked. They caught Hunk's pout from the corner of their eye and was about to roll them when a flash of bright, white light in the sky caught her attention.

"What-what the hell is that?!" Hunk stuttered out and Pidge was silent, staring in shock at the hunk of metal - is that meant to be some kind of spacecraft? What the actual fuck?-that was quickly hurtling itself through their atmosphere and into the desert that stretched out before the two humans for miles. There was the loud sound of the spacecraft hitting the sand loudly, another burst of light-purple this time-and suddenly there was an obviously alien spaceship just laying there in the desert.

Hunk and Pidge stared for a handful of minutes, watching in silent shock as Garrison cars and trucks quickly drove themselves there, hundreds of people setting up tent equipment and swarming the crash site. Pidge quickly gathered up their stuff with a yell, the sound making Hunk jump nervously, "Come on! We gotta get down there and see what the frickety fuck is going on!"

"Wait, Pidge-!" But the sixteen-year-old didn't listen, ignoring their older friend as they booked it to the side of the building, using the fire escape to scramble down to the desert ground. Hunk hesitated, looking back to the roof exit, before sighing and following Pidge.

He had the feeling that something very, very wrong was about to go down.

* * *

Shiro came back to consciousness with a sharp gasp, body jolting painfully as two scientists held down his arms, securing them to the table, muttering softly to themselves about his new, metallic arm. For a moment, the twenty-two-year-old felt a blind stab of panic, memories of druid experiments flashing in his mind, and only relaxed somewhat when he realized that the scientists were human. 

Breathing out a deep breath, Shiro tried to ignore the pounding in his head, wracking his mind for what happened, how and why he was back on Earth. Right, there were those two weirdos that had been placed in his cell, the smaller human, and bigger Galra. He remembered meeting Lance, escaping, getting into a pod-they stopped for a bit, some kind of argument-and then he and Lance had been hurtling faster than the speed of light back down to Earth-

Wait, Lance! Shiro lifted his throbbing head quickly, looking around the - tent? what the hell? - that he was in, a breathed a soft sigh of relief to see an unconscious Lance being strapped down to a bed right beside him. The younger man's face was currently peaceful, long hair pulled back in a messy braid away from his solemn face. He was breathing shallowly, something that brought a modicum of comfort to the older human.

Shiro was about to call out to try and wake Lance when his attention was brought to the people milling around him. It seemed they'd finally noticed he was awake, swarming closer towards him, and Shiro felt panic spike inside his gut. One of them was holding a large needle, and seemed to be approaching Lance, "Hey, what-what are you doing?!" Shiro asked loudly, struggling against his bindings and feeling one of the hazmat-suited scientists place a firm had on his shoulder. Shiro may not have known Lance for long, but the guy had saved his life damn it, Shiro wasn't going to let them stick any weird sort of material into him while he was asleep.

"Calm down Shiro," The man holding him down spoke calmly, almost monotonously, and it set his teeth on edge, "We just need to keep you quarantined until we can run some tests on you."

Shiro suddenly felt a surge of panic. No doubt the Galra had noticed their disappearance. He barely remembers the flashing red lights of the alarms of the ship, too concentrated on escaping with the other two people who had gotten him out. He struggled more fiercely against his bindings, trying to get himself out as he started babbling loudly, voice filled with dread, "No, wait! You have to listen to me!" He grunted, feeling another scientist come closer and tightening the bindings around his torso. He gritted his teeth and glared fiercely into the tinted glass of the suit hovering above him, "They destroy worlds! Argh, aliens are coming!"

He saw the one holding the needle carefully hovering it over a certain vein on Lance's neck and snapped his attention to him, snarling loudly, "Hey! Don't you dare touch him! He saved my life, leave him alone!"

The scientist paused, before ignoring Shiro and starting to press the needle into Lance's neck. The scientist hovering over Shiro had to hold him down with full upper body strength as he continued to squirm, "Do you know how long you've been gone?" The scientist to Shiro's left asked and he turned his sharp, grey gaze upon him in a glare.

"I-I don't know, months?! Years?!" He snapped, panting with exertion as he paused in his struggle, seeing the third scientist push away from Lance and walk back over to what he guessed was a computer behind him, "Look, there's no time! Aliens are coming here, for a weapon! They're probably on their way! They'll destroy us, we have to find Voltron!"

* * *

 

"Voltron!" Pidge hissed loudly, staring down at the camera feed with bright, shrewd eyes. When they'd finally managed to find some out of the way rock formation with Hunk and set up their equipment once again, they'd immediately hacked into the security footage that was being recorded on the inside. She and Hunk stared in horror as Shiro-Shiro, alive and well and here! Here, on Earth! Pidge felt their heart swell with hope-was tied down, glancing briefly over at the other human in curiosity, but becoming distracted once again by Shiro's rambling.

Hunk looked kind of sick, unsure and scared as he stared at the footage, mumbling something about how it was surprising that Shiro 'wasn't actually dead and in space'. Pidge glared at the cameras, turning towards their friend and staring at him fiercely, "We gotta help him, them, get out of there!"

Hunk was about to respond when Shiro spoke again. Shiro's stressed rambling went ignored by the three scientists, who were all moving around the tent, fiddling with various technology, taking readings of Shiro's vitals, making notes about his and the other person's conditions. The two continued to watch as one of the scientists remarked on Shiro's arm, another motioning and speaking rapidly about the other person's leg, tapping the material. Shiro snarled at the scientist again.

Things were quickly going south when one of the scientists ordered for them to put Shiro under while they investigated what exactly the older man's arm could do. Shiro struggled more, panicked as he yelled at them that there was no time, that he couldn't be put under.

"If we're gonna do this, we need to think of a distraction and fast-" Hunk hadn't even finished his rambling when a group of explosions went off some meters beyond the newly set up science tents. Hunk stared in shock and Pidge picked up their equipment again, hurtling off of the rock face and rushing down to the encampment. Hunk stared a little while longer, before snapping out of it and quickly following Pidge down.

* * *

 

When Keith had first spotted the space shuttle hurtling down towards earth in a flash of blinding light, something in his chest had squeezed painfully and he'd just _known_. So he hadn't hesitated, had grabbed his bag with flashy fireworks, tied his bandanna around the lower half of his face, hopped on his hoverbike and sped off, into the direction of the crash and the Garrison. 

He'd rigged up the explosions a little bit away, setting them down and using the last bit of extra gunpowder stashed in his bag to set a trail leading little ways off. Once it was far enough from the fireworks to give Keith time to sneak up and into the facility, he lit it up and bolted. He'd barely caught Shiro's exchange with the scientists as he zoomed sneakily past guards, knocking a couple out when he needed to. 

He'd heard the loud spike in Shiro's panicky voice, and felt his chest tighten painfully. He sounded so damn scared, terrified as he rambled about aliens and Voltron. Keith felt a wave of relief wash over him when the fireworks he'd set up finally went off, distracting the guards that stood between him and Shiro. Once they'd run off, the young man bolted into the tented hallway, taking down any confused and lingering scientists before he finally reached the door where Shiro was being kept.

The door slid open, and he fell into a fighting stance as the scientists yelled out in surprise. Working quickly, Keith incapacitated them, before rushing over to Shiro, glad to see he'd managed to interrupt before the scientists had succeeded in knocking him out. The older man stared up at him, surprised and grateful, as Keith quickly unbuckled his bindings, helping the other sit up.

Shiro sighed with relief, rubbing his sore wrists. He smiled and was about to say something when a sharp, loud voice interrupted them. The two young men turned their attention to the still open door, semi-surprised to see Iverson blocking the exit. The old blowhard looked like he was about to yell at them, Keith quickly rushing up to him and landing a solid kick to his ex-superior officer's nose. He heard a satisfying crunch of Iverson's nose breaking, a smirk flitting over his lips before he turned to Shiro.

He was surprised as he saw the other man hoist another, unconscious human over his shoulder with minimal effort, turning back to Keith. There was a sharp, desperate look in Shiro's eyes as he motioned for Keith to lead them out, "We need to get out of here. I don't know what they injected him with, but the fact that he's still knocked out worries me."

"They probably used morphine to keep him knocked out," A voice piped up from behind Keith, and the young man whipped around, arms coming up to attack the person behind him. He heard a yelp as they ducked away from his punch.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?!" Keith managed to grit out, eyeing the two new arrivals with suspicion. They looked like Garrison cadets but seemed to have forgone the awful orange uniform in favor of their civilian clothing. Seeing as neither were armed or making any moves to attack Keith, the other young man forced himself to relax.

The smaller, ginger-haired one eyed him hesitantly, while the bigger man behind them fidgeted nervously, glancing every few moments back at the exit. Keith knew they had to hurry up if they wanted to escape with little interference, but hesitated for a moment. Shiro pressed up behind him, eyeing the two new arrivals before them as the short one with glasses turned their head up to them, a mischievous, if steely glint, in their eyes, "I'm Pidge, this is Hunk, we snuck out of the Garrison to listen to alien chatter, saw the crashing pod and came to investigate. Now we were hoping to help save Shiro, but you seemed to have that under control, so let's get the fuck out of here."

Hunk nodded rapidly, eyeing the exit with more urgency, "Yeah, I don't think the guards'll be gone for that long, so we really need to vamoose."

Keith snorted and was about to tell the other two to get lost, but Shiro was already passing him, patting his shoulder gently as he did, "No time to argue Keith, we need to get out of here. _Now_!"

Keith wanted to argue but simply nodded, pulling his bandanna down to breathe more easily as the four-five if you counted mister passed out hanging off of Shiro's shoulder-ran through the encampment. Keith motioned for them to follow him to where he'd stashed his hoverbike. They all managed to clamber on with some success, trying to take up different spots on the bike to balance it out so it wouldn't tip over while they flew. 

"Shiro, I'm gonna need your help steering this thing," Keith called over to his friend, who nodded, handing the unconscious guy to Hunk, who fumbled for a moment before holding him tightly. Keith started up the bike and Shiro took one side of the steer, helping Keith move the bike over the soft desert sand as they made their escape.

Unfortunately, they didn't go all that unnoticed. 

Within minutes, Garrison vehicles and hoverbikes were following them, chasing them through the high canyons of the desert. Keith gritted his teeth as he heard the loud, screeching orders of someone ordering them to stop immediately ringing through the speakers. The hoverbike kept tipping side to side dangerously, Hunk trying to balance out the back to the best of his ability as they swerved it from side to side, through the empty gaps in the rock formations.

Pidge was the one to spot the sharp drop and yelled out a warning. Keith and Shiro glanced at one another. Shiro nodded. Keith revved the engine, even more, building up speed and momentum. Hunk was yelling something about motion sickness. The cool metal of the stranger's leg brushed against Keith's arm and he shivered lightly. 

They flew over the drop, leaving the Garrison vehicles to eat their dust.

* * *

"Put him over on the couch," Keith mumbled, shoving a bunch of magazines off of an old, ratty couch. Shiro nodded lightly and gently lifted Lance off of his shoulder to place the still unconscious man down on the nearly-stuffing-depleted couch. He breathed deeply, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose to stave off a throbbing migraine. He felt Keith place a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned to give the other a small, wan smile.

Keith frowned, hesitated, before pulling Shiro into a long hug, "I missed you," He mumbled into the side of Shiro's neck, feeling the other tense and relax into the hug. Shiro sighed and slumped, returning the hug gratefully, clutching Keith a little too tightly than he probably should. God, he'd missed Keith, missed the other wrapped in his arms.

The sound of a throat clearing forced the two young men apart from one another, turning to Pidge, who had made themselves quite comfortable on one of the fold-up chairs in the cabin. They tipped their glasses up, eyeing Hunk briefly, who wandered around the shack, touching and adjusting random little things inside. She let him be, knowing that it was an act of comfort, something the tactile young man needed to calm his anxiety now that they had successfully evaded the Garrison.

She turned her attention to Shiro, who stood beside the couch, basically hovering over the unconscious man that lay on it quietly. She eyed the man curiously. He seemed to be around Keith and Hunk's age, long dark hair pulled up and tied off in a very messy braid. He had dark, tanned skin, was tall and slender in build, and wore strange, purple and black clothing, in a style that Pidge had never seen before. The most surprising thing was that this person was human, undoubtedly, but Pidge had never even heard of other human excursions that went farther than Kerberos into space, so how did a human get out there?

Her eyes flickered between his prosthetic leg and Shiro's new cybernetic arm. Though they seemed similar, they were clearly different technology, both in color and style. Pidge's fingers itched to open them up and play around with the wires, a want undoubtedly shared by Hunk, who was now also eyeing the metallic limbs with curiosity, but she turned her attention away from that and back onto Shiro.

He had... changed a lot. Pidge barely remembered him from the few times he'd been around the Holt's residence before the Kerberos mission, but she knew that the white streak of hair hanging limply over his forehead and the scar running across the bridge of his nose was definitely new. He also seemed more... buff? His shoulders had filled out more, a hidden power contained barely within them as he shifted around, crossing his arms, eyeing Pidge and Hunk as suspiciously and curiously as they were eyeing him, Keith and the unconscious guy on the couch.

It was silent for a few moments as they stared at one another. Hunk's voice piped up and Pidge turned her attention to him, seeing him standing in front of what could only be called a conspiracy board, staring at it with gaping awe.

"So, anyone wanna tell me about the weird cryptid board hanging here?"

 


	7. I Only Just Got To Earth And Now You Want Me To What?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What the fuck is that?"  
> "Uh... I think it's a giant metal lion."  
> "Yeah, no shit Shiro."

_'Ughhh my head hurts... did Pazza manage to slam her staff over it again during training? Why does everything smell like dust and unwashed sheets?'_

Lance slowly blinked his eyes open, hissing a soft curse under his breath at the bright light that hit his face. He brought his hand over his eyes and groaned and called out to the on staff medic he knew would be hovering around the med bay during this time, "Can someone please turn down the lights? They're unusually bright. When did we get bright white lights?"

He heard several soft exclamations of surprise, the rustling of clothing as someone walked over to him and the murmuring of soft voices. Huh, did they get new prisoners who don't speak Galra? That's surprising, considering the Empire always chipped their prisoners so they could follow orders. He didn't remember Vani mentioning that they were going to get injured prisoners though? 

"Lance? Are you alright?" Lance's eyes snapped open in panic and he tried to scramble upright. That was _not_ the medic's voice. That wasn't even Vani's voice, what the fuck, what the fuck, that wasn't a voice Lance even _recognized_! Automatically, Lance reached down to his legs and pulled out his new blade with a snarl, pulling back into a defensive crouch on what looked like an old, overstuffed sitting block. His blue eyes locked with a pair of grey, the man before him having stepped back, holding his hands out to Lance and eyeing him warily. The brown-haired young man narrowed his gaze and cocked his head; this guy looked vaguely familiar. The fuzziness of his mind prevented him from remembering him, but he knew that he recognized this guy from _somewhere_.

"Who are you? How do you know my name? Where are we? What are we doing here, what are your plans for me?" He snapped, silver and blue sword activating with a soft burst of golden light, lengthening before him. He heard a surprised gasp a little behind and to the left of the man before him, his blue gaze snapping over there quickly, seeing a pair of other people hanging behind another person who'd dropped into a defensive stance before them. They didn't look like Galra, in fact, they looked surprisingly much like Lance himself, but considering he'd been an Empire prisoner, it'd stand to reason that these others would have been as well.

His gaze snapped back to who he believed to be their leader, eyeing him shrewdly as he took a small step towards Lance. Lance brought his sword up, even more, the metal singing quietly in the air as he watched the man approach with tense, apprehension, "You-uh-you don't remember me? You kind of saved my life and busted me out of the Galra prison cells."

Lance stared at the man, wracking his brain for any memory of the other. His brows furrowed and a stream of fuzzy memories came back to him slowly. Vani giving him his first mission, Uncle Ulaz and he getting captured, shoved into the cell of the man he was meant to help rescue-Shiro, his name's Shiro-getting busted out by Uncle Thace, running through the hallways, getting shoved into the same escape pod as Shiro and launched into space. He remembered Shiro setting co-ordinates heading towards a large, bright blue planet, the escape craft hitting the atmosphere roughly, falling backward and then-blank.

Lance eyed Shiro for a few moments, before deactivating his blade, and falling out of his defensive crouch. He gingerly sat on the sitting block, placing his weapon back into the empty socket of his mechanical leg and placed his hands, palms up, on his thighs. The other three people seemed to relax some but stayed a little way off as Shiro approached him, and Lance kept them in the corner of his eye, distrusting them for now. 

Shiro smiled lightly at Lance, still a little bit away from the younger man, and gestured to the other's head, "How's your head doing?"

Lance hummed, tilting his head to the side before shrugging lightly, "I've had worse," He said with a soft sigh, standing up from the sitting block and stretching out, ignoring the slight dizzy spell that followed the action. He turned his attention to the other and raised an eyebrow, "Who're your friends?"

Shiro huffed lightly and turned to the others, gesturing to each person as he introduced them, "These are the people that helped me and you out of Garrison's hands. The big guy's called Hunk, the guy with the long hair is Keith and the small one is Pidge," Shiro then turned back to the others and Lance frowned as the other spoke in that strange, unknown language again. He eyed the others warily for a moment, seeing their own distrust-and just plain dislike, judging by the intense wrinkle on the Keith guy's face, making Lance's metaphorical fur rise-, hesitating in coming forth to introduce themselves.

Lance sighed, stepping towards them awkwardly and pulled up his most charming, but insincere smile, holding out his hand to the big guy, Hunk, bending slightly in a shallow bow, "I am Lance, newly graduated soldier of the Blade of Marmora..." he trailed off for a moment as Hunk hesitantly took his hand, shaking it briefly. Lance grinned widely and winked, seeing the other blush brightly, "And you have one of the most accurate names I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

Hunk's brow furrowed and he looked over at Shiro, who seemed to huff slightly, eyeing Lance in disbelief before translating, briefly, what the tanned young man had said, who had pulled away to shake Pidge's hand with less fanfare and paused before Keith, narrowing his blue eyes at the other. He matched his scowl, but still held out his hand to the slightly shorter man, feeling the other take it and shake it firmly, his own frown deepening. Keith turned his attention to Shiro, barking something sharply, voice slightly raising in question, but Lance had turned his attention to look over the rest of the room. 

It wasn't so much a room, he realized, as it was a cabin. From what he could see, it seemed to be a small shack, with no other rooms and the barest necessities spread out in a cluttered mess over the one table, sitting block and floor. Lance eyed the place he'd been sleeping, before peering out curiously through the windows, frowning sharply at the sight of bright, desert sand that stretched out for miles. He could barely catch a glimpse of what seemed to be some sort of mechanical bike outside but brought his attention back to Shiro as he spoke to him.

"What is the Blade of Marmora? You mentioned it before, when you were introducing yourself," Shiro asked Lance, who frowned lightly and eyed the others. He was ready to answer them, before becoming hesitant, the memory of stern words and glances, the last test of proof of preparation...

Instructions from basic training running through his mind as he remembered the stern way Toka signed to him, ' _Do not reveal too much of yourself or the Blade to outsiders. Not even prisoners. We cannot be certain that they are truly trustworthy, nor that they will not reveal any and all information to the Empire if they are recaptured once again. And never ever, ever mention that you are the progeny of your parents and I. Many will use it against you to force Mavi, Vani and I to pay ransom or rescue you while they set up an ambush. If worse comes to worst, make something up._ '

 Lance eyed Shiro. He felt like he could trust the other, to an extent, so it would be best to give a brief, non-detailed explanation of what the Blade was... but how could he trust these other humans[at least, he thinks they're humans, considering the similar features they seemed to share with both himself and Shiro]? Could they be trusted with any sort of knowledge about his home? Perhaps it would be best to deflect the question for now?

Biting his lower lip, Lance's gaze landed on what seemed to be some sort of... messages board? The blue-eyed young man frowned, cocking his head to the side as he looked it over, unable to translate the language of the board. He pointed at it and raised his brow, "What the hell is that supposed to be?"

Shiro narrowed his eyes, and for a moment Lance felt nervous that he wasn't going to take the bait, but he turned his attention back to the long-haired, pale skinned human - Keith, if Lance remembered correctly- and frowned as well. Lance allowed his attention to stray as all the humans began speaking in their strange language, eyeing the board with some brief curiosity before turning his gaze back outside. He didn't know why but it felt like there was something... pulling him from outside. Lance narrowed his blue eyes and stood, wandering around the small cabin as he tried to pinpoint the location of the sensation. The other humans seemed to glance at him strangely but mostly kept their attention towards Keith, who was gesturing and talking animatedly at the board.

Lance paused as he stood before the cabin door, the tugging sensation becoming more insistent the longer he stood there. He muttered softly under his breath, reaching for the door handle and opening it, ignoring the surprised exclamations from the other humans inside the cabin. He marched out, standing a bit off from the cabin and spun around, brow furrowing as he came to a stop. He was facing off to the cabin's left side, the pulling becoming a consistent hum as he started walking towards it. He ignored the humans scrambling behind him. Whatever this thing was, he needed to find it!

He was abruptly pulled back by Shiro's cybernetic arm, whipping around to face the older man with a sharp frown, "What-where do you think you're going, Lance?! There's nothing but desert out for miles and from your lack of understanding of the human language, it doesn't seem like you've ever been on Earth before, so there's no reason for you to be heading out into the desert on your own! Don't you know how dangerous that is?! You could get lost or fall into a sand trap or-"

"Or follow the weird tugging sensation that keeps getting stronger the more I walk in this direction?" Lance interrupted with a raised brow, his leg twitching uncomfortably as he felt the pull become more insistent, almost aggressive. He winced, rubbing his chest from the psychological ache the sensation left.

Shiro's frown deepened even more and he tilted his head, "Keith mentioned some weird tugging happening to him too a while back, but he's never gotten a direction for it..." He trailed off, turning to speak to Keith in their language, who had caught up with them and was eyeing Lance as if he were particularly unsavory and foolish.

Lance bristled at the look and glared back at the other man, about to snap at Keith irritably when the tugging became physical. Lance yelped, head snapping up and back in the direction he'd been walking, feeling his legs starting to walk on autopilot towards the pull. 

Shiro called out Lance's name in surprise, Keith dashing after Lance quickly as the blue-eyed nineteen-year-old started power walking again, calling for the others to follow them. Lance found that he already hated the desert. It was too hot and there was sand  _everywhere_ , getting between his uniform and he suspected the grooves of his prosthetic. The air was too dry, the light of the sun glinting off of the sand was too bright and Lance had never hated anything as passionately as he did the desert in that moment.

They must have all been walking for the better part of a spicolian, and Lance was becoming increasingly aware that he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in at least thirty varga before the five of them came across a deep, glowing cave. Lance practically bolted into it, slightly dizzy as he rushed past the glowing symbols on the cave walls, hearing the voices of the others as they echoed over to him. He huffed, finally coming to a stop towards the end of the cave, bending over so his hands rested on his knees as he tried to make the world stop spinning. 

Keith was the first to catch up to him, voice sharp and questioning, but Lance waved the other away, still unable to understand his weird language.  _If only his translator worked to learn new languages faster than the speed of light_ , Lance thought bitterly, shutting his eyes as the others came jogging up to him, trying to catch his breath.

"... he doesn't understand English Keith, you can't exactly ask him what the fuck is going on when he can't even answer you," Lance caught the tail end of someone, he suspected Pidge's, words and froze. He jerked back up and stared at Pidge, then at Keith, gaping in surprise. There is no way his translator should work that fast!

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm annoyed with the fact that this weird guy that fell from the sky wearing alien clothing leads us on a wild goose chase into the middle of the desert for a glowing cave!" Keith snapped and Lance frowned sharply, whipping around to face Keith with a glare.

"Well excuse me for not having control over my own bodily functions as your weird Earthnian-Earthonian?-Earthling caves pull me towards them!" He snapped at Keith, who stared at Lance. All the others gaped at him and Lance smirked, tapping the side of his head gently, careful to avoid the small implant scar that rested there, "Universal translator."

"Oh my god, the weird humalien can understand us," Hunk wheezed and Lance frowned in confusion, watching as Pidge elbowed the bigger man in the side for that. Keith gaped for a little longer, his face starting to flush angrily, while Shiro seemed to sigh shaking his head.

Keith pointed at Lance in accusation, dark purple eyes narrowed and damn, Lance had never seen such pretty eyes? What the hell, how did they get to be that color? "What the hell man? You couldn't even understand us a few minutes ago? Were you faking this whole time?!"

Lance snorted and crossed his arms, "No! My translator chip has just finally updated using your Earth satellites to learn anything and everything about its language..." he trailed off and frowned slightly, "Oh wow, you guys have a _lot_ of languages. But whatever, it's not like I expect anyone with that much of an atrocious hairstyle to actually understand what I'm talking about."

Keith flushed brightly, fists clenching, "I understand what you're saying perfectly well, what the hell, man?"

"Guys," Shiro cut in as Lance and Keith seemed ready to tear into one another, his expression annoyed as he looked between the two. Sure, they'd seemed to get off on the wrong foot, but surely they could get over it by now, "Let's not start arguing when we're in the middle of the desert in a glowing cave please."

Lance huffed and leaned back against the wall, choosing to mutter purposefully in Galra, ignoring the look Shiro shot him. Lance froze when he heard a soft beep sound, and suddenly the five of them were falling, rapidly tumbling down some strange underground tunnel. Lance let out a shout of surprise, followed by Hunk's panicked yelp and Pidge's shocked squeak. Shiro only sucked in a sharp breath while Keith cursed sharply.

They came to a stop at the bottom of a large cavern, the five of them had fallen into a tangled pile on the floor. Groans and muttered cursing left them as they all tried to struggle upright and away from one another. Shiro stood up and dusted himself off, holding out his hand to help Keith off the floor, while Hunk lifted Pidge and Lance scrabbled back to his feet. 

The five young men and disguised person stared around the glowing cave, their eyes automatically drawn to the large, blue glowing force field that was activated in the middle of the cave. Lance sucked in a sharp breath, Keith making a soft sound of shock at the sight, marching over towards it to stare up in wonder. The others followed at a more cautious pace, particularly Lance, who felt as if the large, mechanical beast inside the barrier-a Lion, his mind supplied helpfully, as he gazed up in awe at the large blue being- was following all his movements with it's- _her_ , a soft purring voice whispered-glowing golden eyes. 

"Is this it?" Lance heard Pidge ask quietly, staring up at the Lion from Lance's other side. He glanced at them briefly, before turning is attention back to the magnificent machine before them, "Is this the Voltron?"

"It must be," Shiro murmured in agreement, as Keith began muttering softly about energy out in the desert, and Lance felt like he'd missed a whole chunk of information before his translator chip had finally caught up, but knew he could always ask for more clarification from Shiro later. Keith began marching over closer to the barrier, the other four humans following closely behind.

"Anyone else getting the feeling that she's staring at them?" Lance asked dazedly, ambling on closer to the barrier, glancing briefly at the others who all shook their heads. Lance ignored them as he stared up at her, his breath catching as he felt something brush his mind. It felt like the proud hug Mavi gave him before he left, the approving pats on the back from Toka, Vani's softly contented smile, and Lance ached at the memories of the familiar feeling, "Yeah... the eyes are totally following me..." he murmured dazedly, coming closer and closer to the barrier. He shut his blue eyes, allowing himself to become lost in the memories for a moment, before being brought back to the present as someone banged loudly on the barrier.

Lance jumped in surprise, turning to see the flat Keith's palm pressed against the blue barrier, the other young man mumbling in irritation, "I wonder how we get through this," he said as he allowed his gloved hands to roam over the barrier, purple eyes sharp as if looking for a weakened area or a clue as to how to open the barrier up.

Lance rolled his eyes, snickering as an idea popped into his head, "Maybe you just have to knock?" He huffed mockingly, choosing to do exactly that. To his, and everyone else's utter surprise, the barrier rang out sharply before falling away and Lance found himself frozen, staring up with wide eyes into the Lion's own golden ones. He couldn't hear the surprised and fearful exclamations of the others behind him, his mind suddenly flooded with a wave of welcoming _warmth_. It felt like the best day of his life, elation and joy sang through his blood, driving away any emotions driven by negativity an fear. For a brief second, his own eyes glowed a soft blue, before he blinked and sucked in a breath, shoulder slumping. He raised his hand and clutched his head, trying to make sense of the new presence that inhabited his mind, whispering softly and warmly to him. 

Lance could only continue to stare blankly as the Lion lowered herself slowly, eagerness washing over him as she did and found himself grinning widely, ignoring Hunk's and Pidge's loud yelling. Blue's jaw opened widely, beckoning towards Lance, her purring voice calling for her paladin. Paladin? Was Lance her paladin? Yes, he was. Lance smirked, striding forward and into Blue's mouth with a chuckle, ignoring Shiro and Keith's exclamations for Lance to wait.

The young man walked through the entrance and climbed up a nearby set of hanging stares, a door sliding open at the top to reveal a well maintained and spotless cockpit. He wandered through it briefly, letting out excited sounds before plopping himself comfortably into the flight seat, crossing his arms and legs with a cocky smirk, "Here we go!" He crowed, yelping as his seat suddenly lurched forwards. He heard the other four humans walking up behind him as Blue pulled the seat to the front, activating blue glowing screens all around the five people. 

Lance gasped and smiled so wide his cheeks hurt, starting to fiddle around with the buttons of the control panels, ignoring the others in favor of fully exploring the cockpit. Lance shuddered as an image came to his mind, a soft voice floating inside his head as it gave him and showed him briefly what to do, "Whoa, did you guys hear that?" He breathed excitedly.

"Hear what?" Keith asked, eyeing Lance from behind the pilot seat, his gaze straying down to the control panel warily as Lance continued to fiddle with it. 

Lance turned to the other with a wide grin, "I think she's trying to talk to me!" He exclaimed loudly, turning back to the control panel and frowning. He hummed in consideration before following Blue's instructions, pressing in the commands for her to respond to. Blue suddenly lurched upright, sending the people who were not currently seated tumbling to the ground with surprised yelps, a loud roar echoing through the cockpit and the cave outside, shaking the earth to its very foundations. 

Lance grinned even wider if it were possible, grabbing onto the steering joysticks, Blue's roar ringing in his ears in joy, her instructions, and guidance clear in his mind. He nodded and gripped the sticks tighter, "Alright, I got this!" He yelled out, pushing the controls and sending Blue up. A rush of excitement flooded him, Blue breaking out through rock and dirt and up, up, up into the sky. She tumbled, she twirled, she practically danced as Lance led her.

Lance allowed her to land on the dusty desert ground, Blue breaking her flight to sprint over the sand. Her joy was echoed by Lance as he whooped excitedly, "Isn't this awesome?!"

"Make it stop, make it stop oh please!" Hunk yelped, his face had become an impressive green shade as he tried to hold onto the bile that was quickly making its way up his throat.

Lance laughed and whooped again, steering Blue so that she launched herself off of the sandy Earth and back into the sky. They rocketed through it, twisting and turning and tumbling all over again as Lance allowed himself to get a feel for the controls, learning how to pilot his new magnificent Blue.

"You are the worst pilot ever!" Keith yelled over Hunk and Pidge's screams, clutching tightly to the back of the pilot seat. Shiro gritted his teeth, grunting as he had a death grip on one of the sides, steadying Pidge so that they didn't fall back and hurt themselves.

Lance laughed again opening his mouth to answer Keith but feeling Blue tug at him, turning his attention up to the stratosphere. Lance sucked in a breath, hesitating for a moment. His parents, the ones that had raised him, had sent him to Earth to learn more about the people, the lands, the culture, and now his Blue wanted him to leave? After hardly having seen anything? He felt Blue's urgency, her wistfulness, and her understanding and took a breath. He pushed the wants of his parents to the side gently and pulled the joysticks to steer Blue up, up, up higher into the sky, passing through the atmosphere and breaking out into the vast, empty blackness of space.

Blue roared again, breaking through the last atmospheric barrier and flying off. She paused, and Lance's eyes widened, anxiety crawling up from his stomach like bile as a large, looming purple spaceship warped itself into space before the Blue Lion. He sucked in a breath and shuddered.

"Is that what I think it is?!" Hunk wheezed fearfully, brown eyes wide, pupils shrunk in fear as he stared at the looming ship, pointing down to the blue Earth below.

"They found me," Shiro muttered angrily, staring up at the ship with his own wide eyes. Lance bit his lower lip and stared at it, his mind running through thousands of possibilities and actions he could take to stop the encroaching ship. Blue caressed his mind, helping to soothe him and show him possible weak points in the ship. Lance narrowed his eyes and nodded firmly, glancing back at the other humans.

"You might all want to hold on! It's about to get extremely bumpy over here!" He yelled, twisting the controls and zooming closer to the ship, ignoring the panicked screeches from his impromptu crewmates. He helped Blue duck and weave, avoiding the purple beams of light they shot at them. Blue guided Lance gently, opening her maw to shoot out her own beam of bright blue light at the unprotected belly of the ship, setting off a line of bright orange explosions, "Let's try this!" Lance yelled, shooting Blue down into a dive and allowing her metallic claws to score the other side of the unprotected belly, zooming off as it exploded behind them.  _That should take care of that ship_ , Lance thought to himself, preening under Blue's satisfied rumbling.

"Nice job, Lance!" Keith exclaimed breathlessly, much to Lance's surprise. The new blue paladin glanced at Keith's face, flushing lightly at the sight of the others ecstatic grin, turning his gaze to Shiro, who was smiling brightly at Lance, making his blush more intense. He coughed lightly, puffing out his chest proudly as Pidge and Hunk congratulated him loudly, both of them dancing around the limited space of the cockpit. 

Lance took a small breath and turned Blue away from the ship, flying off in the opposite direction of Earth, "Alright, let's get these assholes away from your planet," He muttered, hearing the others agree lightly. Lance saw the ship change course, starting to follow the Blue Lion as she traveled quickly through space. He felt a creeping anxiety roll through him as he saw it gaining speed, the feeling only amplified by Pidge's loud exclamation that the Galra were catching up.

"This is weird..." Lance huffed, weaving Blue as they flew and eyeing the ship warily, "They're not trying to shoot at us. They're just chasing us!"

"Wait, are we seriously saying that Aliens chasing after us is a good thing?!" Hunk yelped, twisting his hands anxiously as he looked back at the ship.

"We need to find some way to escape them!" Shiro called, brow furrowed as he looked around the cockpit for anything that could help, Lance, doing the same. He breathed deeply and focused, calling out to Blue for help in escaping the quickly catching up ship behind them.  

Blue didn't hesitate, shooting out a big, bright ball of black and blue light. Lance stared at it in disbelief and yelped as Blue completely took over, hurtling herself and her passengers closer to the growing light. It expanded, bright blue symbols creating a border around the twisting and turmoil-filled oval. Lance grimaced in fear, but Blue encouraged him to push through, to fly through it, promising safety at the end of it.

"What the hell is that?!" Hunk squeaked at the same time and Lance chuckled nervously.

"Guys, don't freak, but I think the Blue Lion is trying to tell us to go through that."

"Where does it go?" Pidge asked curiously, turning their head towards Lance, who frowned and shrugged.

"I... I don't know," He admitted, hesitating as he turned his attention to Shiro, face serious, "Shiro, you seem to be the commander over these other humans... as such, I am placing my life in your decision. What do you want us to do?"

Shiro stared at Lance, shocked that the young man would trust him on such a big decision. He turned his grey eyes back to the glowing oval and let out a sigh, face hardening in an expression of determination, "Whatever is happening, it seems that the Lion knows more about it than we do. I say we trust it," He said, turning his attention to the three others, who seemed to eye the brightly glowing oval with trepidation.

Keith placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder and gave him a firm nod, "I trust your decision, Shiro."

Pidge and Hunk glanced at one another before the younger one shrugged and grinned, "Yeah, I'm sticking with Shiro."

Hunk eyed them all before sighing and shaking his head, "Since I don't wanna end up as an alien prisoner, I guess I'll stick with you guys for now."

Lance nodded, taking a breath and pushing the controls, sending Blue flying towards what seemed to be a portal, "Here goes nothing then..." he murmured, sending Blue crashing into the broiling light.


	8. Meeting Aliens And Uncovering Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You were raised by Galra?!"  
> "Not EVIL Galra, though!"  
> "Why didn't you tell us?!"  
> "Uh, because I KNEW you would react like this!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry this chapter took so long, but school is just starting up again and I'm trying to find time to write and look for work at the same time so updates may be very slow!  
> So, I wanted to ask: would you guys rather that I try to have a weekly updating schedule for this story, or should I just update whenever I have free time?  
> also, there will be a time skip in this chapter, because I don't want to take another 2-3 chapters before the team bonding and I want to get this more on the road to actually meeting the blade asap

The wormhole closed behind Blue and for the first time since being launched into space in the same escape pod as the ex-Champion, Lance realized how well and truly _fucked_ his life was now.

Here he was, light years away from HQ, in a giant, sentient lion-based war machine, stuck in the middle of what he felt was an unknown corner of the universe with four relatively unknown humans in the same mechanic lion. What in the universe hated Lance so much? What had he done to piss off the cosmos to such an extent that he was stuck with these people for who knew _how_ long? 

Lance took a deep breath, trying to calm his panicked thoughts. Blue nudged his mind gently, calling his attention back to the universe before them, finding a large planet looming directly before them. Lance hummed and narrowed his blue eyes, turning his head to glance back at the other humans with him inside the cockpit, "Well... that sure was something," he chirped with a nervous grin, grimacing in disgust when Hunk gagged and suddenly hurled off to the side of the control panel. Lance flinched as the acrid smell of vomit rushed to his nose and turned his face away from it, fighting down the urge to gag. He noted the grossed outlooks on the other human's faces, though the Pidge human seemed to look at their bigger companion with sympathy. 

"I'm... so sorry-" Hunk began, before turning away from them once more and losing more of the contents of his stomach right beside Lance. Lance could feel a curl of nausea in his own stomach, ignoring Pidge as they muttered their surprise about the time it took for the other man to lose the hold over his sickness. For a moment, Lance thought, panicky, that this was perhaps the result of some unknown human illness, when Hunk turned back and gave Lance a guilty look, "Sorry... I've got really bad motion sickness."

"It's... fine?" Lance asked, but shifted away from the puddle of vomit that seeped closer to his feet, desperately praying to whatever being that hated him that it would not reach his mechanical leg. The wiring was delicate and would not be able to handle the acidity of the vomit, "Just... try not to vomit on any of the wirings, and we'll be good," he joked lightly, receiving a wan smile from the other man.

"I don't recognize any of these constellations," Shiro murmured from behind the pilot chair, and Lance turned to him to see the older human staring intently out towards the deep abyss of space, "We must be a long, long way from Earth."

Lance released a breath and nodded, allowing the Blue Lion to gently steer herself for a moment as he turned his attention back to the planet before them, "Unsurprising, considering the wormhole probably transported us as far away from the Empire ship as possible," He mused, shaking his head and eyeing the others, "The Lion seems to want us to go down to that planet... I think she's trying to return home."

The others were silent, eyeing Lance as if he'd gone insane, but the Galra raised young man shrugged his shoulders and helped Blue steer them down towards the surface of the planet. It was silent as they flew down, admiring the view of this other world idly as they broke through its atmosphere, hurtling down quickly into... another desert? Why couldn't it have been another place? Why was Lance always being led into deserts? He lamented, groaning as the other humans seemed to curl around the pilot chair as they sped down to the surface of the planet.

"Guys? Some personal space please?" A waft of Hunk's breath hit Lance's face and he fought the urge to gag, "Hunk, please, your breath is killing me!"

"Uhm is anyone else having second thoughts about trusting a weird humalien to fly us through a creepy, mysterious wormhole?!" Hunk babbled, the panic on his face making him pale and shaky, the emotion being quickly washed away with irritation, "Why are we listening to Lance and a giant metal lion anyway?!"

Lance tried to hide the hurt that the other's words brought, knowing that he didn't mean anything personal about the accusation, as he had a right to be untrustworthy of Lance. Didn't make it sting any less thought, "Well, she got us away from that giant Empire warship, didn't she?" He huffed, turning his attention back to the screen, concentrating on flying them as smoothly as possible.

"I don't know if you notice, but we are literally in an alien warship," Keith said wryly and Lance gritted his teeth, shooting the other young man a glare over his shoulder.

Lance forced a smirk on his face, voice taking a mocking tone, "Oh, what are you, scared?"

Keith shot Lance an annoyed glare, "With you at the helm? Terrified."

Lance was about to snap back at Keith, but Shiro's voice interrupted their argument before it could become full-blown, his gaze stern as he looked between Keith and Lance, "Alright, knock it off!" He grumbled, looking between all of the humans, "No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to do this, we have to stick together."

"So? What do we do?" Pidge piped up and Lance shut his eyes briefly, pushing away his sudden animosity towards Keith to the back of his mind with a sigh. He could argue with the other later, Shiro was right about working together, though his skin itched with irritation at the thought. It wasn't his fault Keith seemed to dislike him from the moment he'd awoken! Why was the other so crabby anyway?

"-Lance?" Said young man brought his attention back to Shiro and blinked slightly, having not caught the older man's question. He shrugged and turned back to Blue's control panel, "I don't know, Blue isn't talking to me anymore..." a thought flashed into his mind and he grinned, _Time for some payback_ , "Wait, no, shhh... do you hear that?"

The others expressed confusion, listening closely and Lance grinned as he gingerly shuffled his prosthetic leg, tapping it twice on the toes, activating the noxious gas that was trapped there. The others let out groans of disgust and he grinned smugly, turning his attention back to the panel before him, "But seriously, there's a castle up ahead."

It was silent in the cockpit for a moment as the others turned their attention back to the screen, staring at the large, elegant structure in awe. Lance hummed, ignoring the others exclamations of wonder, steering the Blue Lion up to land gently on the ground before the large structure, brow furrowing and expression wary as the castle started glowing brightly. 

They were all silent for a moment, before Shiro spoke up, his eyes narrowed in distrust, "Keep your guard up, everyone," He murmured, hearing Pidge's question faintly as he headed towards the Lion's exit, speaking over his shoulder back to the others, "My crew was captured by aliens once before. I'm not about to let it happen again."

The others followed him out, Blue leaning her head down and opening her maw for them all to exit. There was a moment of quiet before Blue pulled away from them, standing proudly and ignoring their shrieks of shock ("Aw, no, no, no, I knew it was gonna eat us!") and terror, roaring loudly towards the castle. The gigantic doors before them shuddered before shifting themselves open, allowing the humans access to its dark hallways. 

"Oooh, the door is open!" Hunk yelled worriedly, a nervous grin forming on his face as he looked back over to Blue, who simply stood there impassively, "Guess I was wrong about you!" Lance could hear her snort bemusedly in the back of his mind, and grinned lightly, ignoring Keith's suspicious look to give the Lion behind him a short wave of amusement himself.

The group was silent as they slowly made their way into the castle cautiously. Lance wished for a moment that he'd at least had a handgun with him, hyper-aware that the only weapon he seemed to have was currently holstered back in his leg. He breathed steadily, back and shoulders pulled up straight and stiff as he walked. He snorted lightly as they came to a stop and Hunk allowed a loud greeting to fall from his mouth, shrugging as the others turned to the larger man incredulously. Lance was already beginning to like Hunk, the other may have vomited in the cockpit next to him, but he was nice and kind of funny. He hoped he could grow closer to him.

Lance startled out of his thoughts as bright, nearly blinding blue and white light lit up the area they were in, immediately falling into a fighting stance easily. He eyed the area warily, a cold mechanic voice insisted they stay still for an identity scan. Lance shuddered uncomfortably as a bright blue light scanned the small group, shifting so he had the wall to his back and the others to his front. If anything came out to attack them he'd be able to counterattack easily.

"Tell us why we are here!" Shiro called out tersely, but the mechanical voice didn't answer him as soon the lights of the rest of the castle flickered on, lighting up the area around and before them. The group paused, before shuffling awkwardly through the halls. The hallways and rooms lit up ahead of them as they walked, and Lance made sure to keep himself to the back of the group, uncomfortable with how defenseless everyone besides perhaps he, Keith and Shiro were. Hunk kept calling out loudly, hoping for an answer, and Lance frowned lightly, unsure if he should ask Hunk to stop or if that would be considered rude.

They soon found themselves walking downstairs, following the winding hallways into a more open room. It seemed empty, with just a control panel in the very center, setting Lance's senses on high alert as he lingered near the exit, "Where are we?" He mused, watching Pidge carefully as they meandered over to the panel in the center. 

 "It's like some kind of control room..." Pidge muttered, shrugging their shoulders lightly with a furrowed brow. The control panel suddenly lit up with blue light, and Lance found himself marching towards the others in the room, eyeing the two pods that had suddenly come up from the ground near them. He was stiff as he stood close to one, making sure to cover Pidge with his body if need be. 

The pods glowed brilliantly, and Lance heard Hunk squeak a question about the state of living that the two figures they could barely see within the pods. The Galra raised human shrugged, watching carefully as the light barrier disintegrated, showing the person who lay inside. Lance stared at the sleeping woman, surprised at how human she looked. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, tilting his head to the side to look her over. Her eyes snapped open suddenly, brilliant pools of blue-pink staring out at herself unseeing, a panic on her face that Lance didn't understand.

She reached her arm out before her, a desperate plea for her father leaving her lips and Lance sprang forwards as she started to tilt in a fall. He caught her easily, ensuring that she wouldn't hurt herself by falling to the cold, hard floor, helping her to steady herself. She groaned, before tipping her head back to look up at Lance, turning her head to the side to see where she was, "Who are you? Where-where am I?"

"I'm Lance and you're right here in my arms," Lance said numbly, unaware of how that sounded like everyone groaned at his words. He glanced back at the others in confusion, before turning his attention back to the woman, trying to help her stand back on her feet.

She seemed to frown, her pretty eyes narrowing as she tilted her head to the side, "Your ears... what's wrong with them?"

"What do you mean what's wrong with them? They heard everything you said!" He asked, stiffening uncomfortably when he felt the woman in his arms grab his right ear in a painful grip. He yowled and struggled, falling to his knees with gritted teeth and a loud curse, "Let go!"

"They're hideous! Who are you!" 

Yep, Lance was so utterly fucked.

* * *

 Lance walked slowly down the castle hallways, idly listening to the others chatting as they made their ways down to the Lion hangars. 

It had been approximately 3 days since the young man had had the unfortunate luck of rescuing Shiro and meeting these other humans and the Alteans while on the run from the Empire. After that disastrous first meeting with Princess Allura and her adviser, Coran, they had all calmed down enough to speak to one another civilly. Allura and Coran had told them who they were and what had happened, and Lance clenches his fist at the memory, pushing it to the back of his mind. Clearly, the Alteans had problems with the Empire, much more so than Lance or the Blade had; their anger went deeper, the betrayal and realization that everything their people were was dead and gone thousands of doboshes before them were of a much more personal nature.

After explaining the history of the Alteans and the Empire, they had requested that the humans find the remaining Lions together, and explained what exactly Voltron was meant to be. Lance grimaced, trying to push away the knowledge that his guardians would be so disappointed that he hadn't had the chance to truly acclimate himself to his home planet before he'd been launched right into the middle of a new war. He could only hope that he'd have some free time to communicate with them soon. Perhaps when they all had some free time away from one another, Lance would find the privacy to do so. 

After retrieving the Lions, they'd been given a day to rest, and now, they were all together to start officially training as a team. Lance grimaced, glancing down at his leg as it ached painfully. Their first battle together had been tough, the warship had been so much more powerful than any of them had believed it could be. Lance had truly thought in that moment when they'd been captured in the purple ray of light, that it was finished, that he'd be captured and unable to reach his parents ever again. It had been such a relief to form Voltron together with them, the thrill of connecting together to take down a large, powerful Empire ship had been incredible, and Lance still felt the rush of the first connection thrumming through them. However, while they'd been able to defeat the ship, their Lions had been damaged and had needed the day to recover. Lance had tried to perform maintenance on his own leg, only to find he had no tools to do so, leaving him with no other option but to leave it uncomfortably damaged.

Now they all rested tiredly on the sitting area, exhausted from this morning's training session. He snapped back to the present, brows raised as he looked over the hangar, unsurprised to find Allura and Coran already there. After a rather disastrous morning training, in which they'd been unable to form Voltron again under any circumstances they'd been thrown into, Lance was tired and hungry. All he truly wanted to do was return to his room and rest, but he knew it wouldn't be so easy. He sighed as Allura and Shiro began scolding them, trying to come up with different bonding exercises, much to the tired complaints of Hunk and the angry muttering of Pidge.

"When do we get to go back to Earth?" Hunk groaned, and Lance reached over to pat the bigger man's leg sympathetically. He knew it wasn't easy for anyone of them, but seemingly more so for Hunk to have been uprooted from the lives they'd been living comfortably on their home planet. He seemed to be taking it the hardest, as Pidge was more determined to find their missing family than to return back to Earth at the moment. 

To be fair, Lance wanted to return to HQ too. He thought back to the small communicator he'd left hidden in his room, thoughts brought back by Pidge's angry declaration of still wanting to find their family. Lance sighed and shook his head, turning back into the conversation fully as Shiro began sternly reminding them of their duty to fight Zarkon.

Lance felt irritation well up within him, turning his attention to Shiro with narrowed eyes, "And how exactly are we going to fight? We can't even figure out how to form Voltron!" He huffed, throwing his hands in the air tiredly, turning his attention to Coran as he began speaking.

"Well, I'm not surprised. You know, the original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side by side," He mused, turning off the small machine in his hands and putting it back into one of his vest pockets, shooting them all a smile as he started gesturing with his explanation, "They were like a pack of Yelmores linked at the ears!"

Lance grumbled, unimpressed with Coran's enthusiasm when he was so tired, and turned to allow himself to lounge back lazily on the 'couch' [as humans seemed to call it], lifting his leg over the back of it, "Wow, yeah that really doesn't sound like us," he muttered tiredly, ignoring the looks he got from the others in the room.

Coran frowned lightly and shook his head, "During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team, but that will only get you so far," He sighed, crossing his arms and looking at them all sternly, "You'll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and beating Zarkon next time!" He snapped his finger and grinned widely, brightening up, "You should all go work out on the training deck!"

"There's a training deck?" Hunk asked tiredly, slumped over his own legs as he watched Coran speak. 

Coran nodded enthusiastically, gesturing for them all to follow him. Shiro took up the rear, making sure they all left to go to the training deck, aiming to ensure his team would be able to work together to be able to fight the Galra Empire. Lance sighed, slouching tiredly as they walked, through the hallways, trying to ignore the faint throbbing of his prosthetic. He really needed to have it checked out by someone if he wanted to ensure it wasn't damaged too badly, but he was unsure exactly which of them would have any sort of knowledge on Galran prosthetics. He could try asking Hunk or Pidge, but he didn't know how to go around it for the time being. 

Lance straightened up stiffly once they'd entered the training deck, going to stand in a circle with his fellow paladins. Their backs faced one another as they stared out into the empty room, listening to Coran explain the training simulator that they had to work through. It sounded simple enough, honestly, something Lance had already done with other Blade members back during basic training when they were trying to find which cubs worked together best for team-ups and which needed to learn to work together. 

The problem then, was that Lance didn't truly trust any of them to look out for his back, to help him fight off any oncoming attacks. Keith was still too suspicious of him, so much so that it was starting to irritate Lance, Hunk and Pidge were still very behind in any sort of training, having only gotten the bare minimum from their schooling back on Earth and Shiro-well, Lance trusted Shiro, but he was only one man and they had to work as a team.

Lance took a deep breath, activating his shield. Perhaps these humans would surprise him! Perhaps they'd actually be able to beat this training simulator!

"Uh, did any of you guys get these too?" Hunk asked and Lance turned to nod at the larger man, shifting into a fighting stance easily.

The drones started shooting, and everything immediately fell apart. Hunk moved out of the way of a blast instead of lifting his shield to protect himself, causing Pidge to be shot in the back and be swallowed up by the training floor with a yelp. The hole slowly closed up, and Hunk was the next to be shot, cowering under his arms and unable to defend himself with his shield as the drones shot at him. Lance cursed, too late to shield the other from the blast before he'd been sucked under.

He, Keith and Shiro quickly moved so the three of them were back to back, successfully blocking off the blasts coming at them from every side together. Coran called out to up the intensity cheerfully, and Lance grunted as he blocked several quick-fire laser shots aimed at their little huddle, "You keeping up over there Keith?" He asked sincerely, feeling the other stiffen behind him.

"Just concentrate on keeping me safe," Keith growled and Lance frowned. He'd only been asking if the other was doing alright behind him. Was Keith offended that Lance didn't trust him to keep an eye on his back? 

"Pssshhh, me? I own this drill!" He said, perhaps a tad cockily, turning to look back at Keith briefly with a small smirk, trying to lighten the mood a bit as they worked together easily. He watched as Keith barely caught two blasts and frowned, shifting slightly to protect Keith's left from another blast, "You're the one that needs to concentrate," he huffed.

The slight distraction nearly cost him, unfortunately, as he was unaware of the droids suddenly ducking lower until he saw Keith and Shiro both bend lower as well. Before he could try to do the same, a droid was already shooting at his left leg. Lance yelped loudly, lifting his leg instinctively to protect the already damaged appendage from any more harm, grimacing as Keith was shot in the back. 

He tried to correct his mistake by stretching is shield out to protect Shiro, leaving his side completely unprotected from the blasts, ultimately leading to him being shot as well. Lance tumbled through the floor with a curse, Shiro not far behind him. They heard Coran groan from up in the control room, and Lance sighed, deactivating his shield and standing up, dusting himself off. He ignored Keith's fuming expression with a slight grimace, turning to glance back at Shiro.

They all made their ways back up to the training deck, Coran having already changed the simulator to something different. Lance rubbed his thigh idly, unaware of Hunk and Pidge's curious looks as Coran explained the next objective of this exercise.

Lance sighed, hopefully, this one would be more successful.

Two spicolians later and Lance sat petulantly in the middle of the invisible maze, refusing to leave it under Keith's guidance. His body ached painfully from the shocks of the invisible walls and had frankly had enough of it at that moment. He glared out at the other humans, particularly Keith, who seemed to be getting more agitated the longer Lance refused to move. He eventually was able to make his way out through the combined efforts of Shiro and Pidge, ignoring Keith as he stood stiffly behind the others, waiting patiently for everyone else to go.

The exercise clearly hadn't worked. Lance was now refusing to even glance Keith's way, and Coran sighed tiredly up in the control center. They moved onto the next exercise, and the next, and the next [even going so far as to getting back into the Lions, which lead to Lance promising Blue he'd clean out all the sand within her grooves and wires as she grumbled grumpily at him], until finally, they were all seated back in the training deck, mind-melding headsets on. 

Lance hummed curiously, reaching up to touch the delicate machinery. He'd heard about the Altean mind melding machinery years ago, during his time at the education facility, but had believed it all to have been destroyed many years before. Lance had heard the horror stories that surrounded these small machines, how they could negatively affect the minds of the people who wore them if one was not careful in using them. He frowned, listening idly to Coran explaining the exercise to the paladins, his mounting anxiety at the knowledge the others would be able to look into his mind becoming stronger by the second.

Slowly he shut his eyes, allowing Coran's words to wash over him, trying to relax and open his mind up to the others. He trusted them enough to not rummage through his mind too much, knowing that there were private, uncomfortable memories he didn't want them all to see. He tried thinking idly but soon found himself thinking of his guardians. They slowly filled his vision: Maveera with her cocky smirk, Kolivan with is stern and unwavering frown, Kolivan, his mask off and a gentle look on his face. Thace and Ulaz off to the side, the two of them wrapped around one another comfortably, gentle and soft with one another as they cuddled. Lance sighed wistfully. He missed home.

He was broken out of his happy memories of them by the others ripping off their mind-melding machines, all of them looking over at Lance in both shock and some anger, particularly Pidge and Keith. Lance tensed, pulling off the machine himself and staring back at them warily. Shiro seemed slightly shaken up, refusing to look at Lance as the others rounded on him.

"You were raised by the Galra?!" Keith spat angrily, and Lance felt a wave of anger wash over him, baring his teeth angrily at Keith as he stood, stiff and uncomfortable before them.

"I was. They are not part of the Empire, and thus I do not see the problem that you have with my heritage," Lance replied stiffly, crossing his arms defensively as both Pidge and Keith stood up, squaring up with him as they stood there threateningly. Lance flinched as he saw the scared look in Hunk's eyes and the unsure one in Shiro's gritting his teeth against the negative feelings building up inside him.

"How can you expect us to believe that?!" Keith spat, marching closer to Lance to stand toe to toe with the other, face twisted in an angry snarl, "Why didn't you tell us before if that was the case, huh? Why keep it hidden?!"

"I didn't hide anything!" Lance snapped back, blue eyes flashing with rage, "When was I supposed to tell you all that I was raised by Galra, hmm? When we found Blue? When we were hurtling through space and a wormhole? When I was helping you all find your Lions? When, Keith, when would have been a good time to mention, 'Oh, by the way, I was raised by Galra rebel forces, let's get back to fighting this big ass Empire warship!'" 

Keith snarled, Pidge faltering behind him, her own distrust clear on her face as they hesitated between splitting the two of them up or supporting Keith in attacking Lance. Shiro stood up and moved over to them, quickly separating the two of them himself, Hunk falling back nervously behind their leader, twisting his hands as he eyed Lance with some trepidation, "Keith, enough, you need to calm down," Shiro said firmly, pulling the younger man away from Lance, who continued to stand there uncomfortably.

Keith seemed like he was about to argue, and Shiro held up a hand, a tired and stern look on his face, "Stop, Keith. I already knew that Lance had been working with some Galra to get me out from my captivity. I just... forgot for a moment," He muttered softly and Keith relaxed some, unsure on what to do as Shiro turned back to Lance, who stood far away from the others, face carefully blank.

 The older man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, turning back to the others, "We need to be able to trust one another. The fact that Lance didn't trust us enough to tell us this is proof of how distant of a team we all are at the moment," He said softly, gesturing for everyone to come sit together back in a circle, making sure to sit himself between Keith and Lance this time so the two of them wouldn't attack one another, "I think we all need to talk to each other. I know that all of us didn't expect to be fighting to save the universe together, but we need to listen and learn from each other. So," he paused, breathing in deeply, "I think we need to be honest with each other. Come clean and tell each other our secrets."

The others were quiet for a long while and Shiro was about to give up, before Lance spoke up with a tight sigh, "I was saved from an Empire slave ship by my parents when I was four," He began stiffly, not looking at the rest of the team as he began to speak slightly about his past, knowing that it would be best for him to begin so the others would feel somewhat comfortable. Seeing the others horrified looks he shrugged, "I don't remember much of my time on there, and I only know what my parents told me, but apparently, I was the only one they were able to save. My leg had been horribly injured at that time so I lost it. They didn't know where I'd come from so they decided to keep and raise me. I have three parents, Maveera, my mother, Kolivan and Antok, my fathers. Mavi was the one who found me along with my uncles Thace and Ulaz within one of the cells of the ship, so she was the one who raised me," He finished simply, shrugging and looking down at his legs, idly picking at the armor as the others stared silently, "I don't remember my birth parents. I had a good childhood, I was loved and respected and I honestly couldn't have wished for a better family."

"Why were you there to help rescue me?" Shiro asked softly and Lance huffed in amusement, shaking his head.

"It was my first mission. I was sent because you were a human, and they hoped that I'd be able to go with you back to Earth. They wanted me to know where I came from, while also releasing the Champion of the Empire from his servitude," He answered easily, shrugging, "It's what my family does. They rebel against the Empire by attacking slave ships and freeing those that are prisoners there. It's what I wanted to do..." he trailed off quietly and sighed, melancholically, "I... I miss them."

It was silent for a moment before Shiro reached out, clutching Lance's shoulder lightly as the younger man flinched in surprise, "Thank you for being honest Lance." Lance nodded awkwardly, avoiding the older man's eyes, knowing he still hadn't told them the full truth of where he'd been raised. But it was enough for now.

Pidge sighed, catching everyone's attention as the ran their fingers through their hair, "Guess I should go next, huh?" They said wryly.

One by one the paladins spoke, growing closer to one another as they confessed their secrets to one another. The atmosphere of the room was a comfortable one. None of them truly noticed the Alteans watching the bonding team from the doorway to the training deck. Allura frowned, an unsure look on her face as she eyed Lance nervously. She'd heard his story, the words ringing in her mind over and over again as she thought at a mile a minute. The sudden knowledge of one of the paladins having been raised by Galra made her uncomfortably angry, the pain of losing her people still a fresh wound to her mind and emotions. 

She bit her lower lip, watching as Lance laughed unsurely as Hunk explained something, gesturing to Lance's prosthetic leg and talking at a mile a minute as the other allowed the bigger man to fiddle around with the damaged leg, doing maintenance. She knew they needed Lance, that he was the blue paladin and that the Blue Lion wouldn't have chosen him if he truly wasn't suitable, but that didn't bring her much comfort.

She jumped in slight surprise, looking up to Coran as he looked down at her, a knowing look in his eyes. Allura frowned guiltily, but Coran shook his head, "I know it will be difficult for you, Allura," He murmured, "but we need him to fight Zarkon. He was not raised within the Galra Empire, has had no allegiance to Zarkon within his young life. Please give him a chance, Princess."

Allura hesitated, but nodded slightly, feeling Coran squeeze her shoulder lightly before entering the room with a loud exclamation, catching the new paladins' attention. Allura took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, pushing her thoughts and feelings to the back of her mind for now. There would be plenty of time to be angry later. For now, she must concentrate on the paladins.


	9. Lance Gets Hurt, Keith Has Feelings, And Shiro Has A Bad Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It didn't take long before things went to shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back! i'm gonna be posting some updates to a lot of my current stories so hope you're all lookin forward to 'em!  
> also, i'm planning to delete the update from last year, so that the story will run smoothly and without interruption!

It didn't take long before things went to shit.

They'd spent the past few days getting to know the locals of the planet they were on, Arus, and learning how to work together. Lance had been contemplating asking Coran if there were any civilian clothes upon the castle that he could use until they were able to buy some at a swap moon. His uniform smelled rank, and he really needed to get out of it and clean the dense material. He couldn't keep switching between his paladin armor and his Blade armor if he wanted to find some way to relax. 

The party was in full swing, even after Pidge had informed the team they were planning to leave in search of their family on their own. Lance sighed as he wandered the upper halls, trying to find somewhere quiet to cool down after constant contact with the others. He couldn't exactly blame the younger human for wanting to go out in search of their family, but the universe needed Voltron, and to be able to create Voltron, the team would have to stay together with all the Lions. Rubbing the back of his neck, he wandered into the observation deck, spotting Coran and smiling lightly. Knocking lightly on the metal of the doorway, he wandered in to stand beside the Altean, engaging him in conversation.

They'd been speaking lightly about Earth, and Lance's discomfort in the knowledge that he knew next to nothing about the pretty blue planet. Being there had felt off, as if he should have known it, but hadn't really been able to bring anything up in his mind. It wasn't what he'd expected to feel while he was there. Having Coran show him how far all the paladins were from their original planet gave Lance the opportunity to discretely catch sight of the galaxy in which the Blade Headquarters were situated, and he felt longing weighing heavily in his chest.

He and Coran had turned, heading towards the deck doors, when the blue paladin had spotted Pidge's reformed Galra droid floating past. He'd lifted his arm to greet the small machine, but paused as he watched it wander closer to the main control crystal. Its movements were off, seeming to wobble a little hesitantly as it got closer to the crystal. He saw and heard it press up to the crystal, not even hesitating as he called Coran's name, pushing him to the ground and taking the worst of the blast.

Lance groaned, sharp burning pain radiating from his back as he lay on top of Coran. His ears buzzed loudly from the explosion and when he opened his eyes, the world spun dizzyingly before him so he kept them shut. He felt more than heard Coran shouting and getting up from beneath Lance, lifting the blue paladin up a little too roughly. With a pained cry, Lance lost consciousness.

* * *

 The explosion had caught them all unawares. Keith's attention quickly snapped up to the shaking balcony leading up to the crystal in the upper decks. His stomach twisted nervously, ignoring the panicked cries of the Arusians around them as he quickly started running, taking the steps two at a time. He heard the others following quickly behind him, all of them concerned about what was happening. Keith had spotted Lance heading up there, and for a brief, horrifying moment he had wondered if the strange boy had actually turned around and betrayed them somehow. 

It was far worse than he'd originally thought. Coran was getting up with some difficulty, the smoke swirling around the orange haired man thickly. He heard Shiro ask him what had happened, Keith's sharp eyes looking up when he heard Allura's horrified gasp rang through them, followed by a surprised and panicked, "Lance!"

Shiro passed Keith and the younger man felt the pit of his stomach fall out. Lance lay before the crystal, the paladin armor on his back twisted and seemingly melted into Lance's back. Siro called out the blue paladin's name, and Keith heard Lance groan softly in pain as he was turned over, his brows wrinkling before going lax once again. He didn't rouse from his unconsciousness.

"We have to get Lance to the infirmary!" Pidge's voice rang out, even through the blood rushing in Keith's ears. His heart was thumping loudly, adrenalin rushing through his body as he heard Allura explain that without the crystal, there would be no power in the castle. 

Shiro's brows furrowed as he continued to look down at the rapidly paling Lance, his voice deep with concern as he spoke, "He doesn't look good-"

"Lion warriors!" A deep voice called out in fear, and Keith turned to look back at the small figure of the Arusian chief as he waddled quickly towards them, "Our village is under attack, we need help!"

Keith felt a flood of anger rush through him, voice rough as he spoke loudly, "We need to get to the lions!"

"We can't! They're sealed in their hangers!" Allura spoke quickly, her shoulders drooping, "There's no way to get them out. We're defenseless!"

"Will you not help us!?" The chief asked, his eyes wide and mouth set in a grimace. 

"We'll help you!" Keith said quickly, ignoring the doubtful looks from the others, "We just-!"

Lance groaned again, interrupting Keith, and he quickly snapped his head back around to look down at the injured paladin. Keith grimaced at the pained look on Lance's face, turning to look a little helplessly at Shiro. Shiro seemed torn, wanting to help the Arusians, but also aware that Lance needed a pod, and soon, or he'd go into shock from all the pain. The fact the blue paladin hadn't woken up either was worrying, and Keith's head had been too stuffed full of rushing thoughts to keep the time of how long the other had been unconscious. 

"This," Hunk said grimly, holding Coran up, before letting the older man go as he slipped away from the steady support of the yellow paladin, reaching to the wall, "is bad."

"We need to get a new crystal to get the castle working again," Coran began roughly, an angry scowl on his face as he spoke, hunched up from the pain of landing so harshly against the floor, "but to get a new crystal we need a ship!"

Keith tuned them out, keeping his eye on Lance and Shiro as the others spoke, his own brows furrowed in worry as he watched Shiro slowly coming to a decision. The black paladin's shoulders slumped minutely, before straightening in determination, and Keith responded by straightening his own spin, muscles coiled and ready for movement. He hesitated for a brief second, before speaking again, "I'll go help out at the Arusian village."

"And I'll help you, Keith," Allura spoke beside him, lips set in a grim line as Keith nodded to her, "I brought this upon the poor Arusians."

"I'll tend to Lance and stand watch over the castle," Shiro said, Pidge raising their hand to stay behind and watch the castle alongside Shiro as well, nodding to the other two as Keith turned, following Allura as the two left quickly. Keith briefly glanced back before turning his attention away. He needed to focus, he wouldn't be any help to the rest of the team if he couldn't focus on his own task at the moment.

As he and Allura ran from the castle in the direction of the Arusian village, Keith shot a brief prayer to whatever deity or cosmic being was out there that Lance would be okay.

* * *

 "Hang on buddy," Shiro spoke quietly in concern, the feeling of Lance's slack and unconscious body slung over his shoulder was surprisingly heavy, "help is on the way..." he trailed off, freezing in place as he spotted something in the near distance.

Before him stood a line of people, and Shiro narrowed his eyes before the widened in panic, recognition bursting through his head. He scowled at the sight of Sendak, walking slowly closer, a conqueror with his troops splayed out behind him. A think, tall Galra stood slightly behind him, a wide smirk on his face as te walked through the open doors of the castle. 

Shiro stepped back slightly, hissing out a sharp "Sendak!" hesitating for a moment before turning slightly, moving to put Lance down in a prone position. The blue paladin didn't stir, his face pale and drawn with pain, and Shiro felt a bolt of worry and sympathy crash through him. Frustration at the situation filled him, and he moved, rushing to the castle entrance, his metallic arm humming loudly as he prepared to activate it. Shiro came to a stop before Sendak, slipping easily into a fighting stance as the bigger Galra paused, his face twisting into a scowl.

"Stand aside," His voice growled out, and Shiro fought back a flinch at the sound, gritting his teeth.

He raised his arm behind him, trying to keep Sendak's attention on him and keep him from noticing the vulnerable man behind him, "No. You're not getting in," He snapped, feeling the feat of his arm as he activated it. It glowed a brief, bright purple before settling back into the usual black of his gloves. 

Sendak narrowed his eyes, "Yes, I am," he sneered, swinging his own gigantic, metallic arm behind himself, before lashing it out at Shiro, grabbing the black paladin's arm and dragging him towards him. Shiro grunted in surprise, losing his balance and flying towards the bigger Galra, yelling in surprise. He landed before Sendak, looking up to glare at him before his eyes widened in surprise as Sendak's arm was lashing back down to him.

Shiro pulled back quickly, a snarl on his face as Sendak grinned menacingly. The two fought, lunging and dodging, their movements deadly and precise. It was almost like a dance, smooth and familiar, the two of them falling back into well-known patterns as they each tried to outdo each other. Shiro's smaller size and attached arm made it easier for him to move quickly, dodging out of the ways of Sendak's powerful, brutish attacks. Their arms glowed brightly, capturing the attention of anyone who would glance their way. Shiro was surprised the droids around them didn't react, keeping their distance from the fighting two lunged at one another.

Shiro and Sendak came to a standstill, both of their prosthetic arms glowing brightly, preventing the other from pushing back. Shiro felt sweat trickle down his back as Sendak grinned viciously, his arms starting to glow a brighter purple, "I see you spent some time with the druids!" he called out to Shiro, teeth on display as the heat between them intensified, "Too bad they didn't give you the latest model!"

The light expanded before exploding outward, Sendak's arm shooting forward for his fist to connect harshly with Shiro's abdomen, pushing him away and back into the castle. Shiro felt the wind knock out of him, grunting in pain as he landed harshly on the cold metal of the castle floor beside where Lance lay, unconscious and unaware, moving to get back up and continue fighting Sendak. The Galra's arm returned, quickly once again, and Shiro barely managed to move in time to avoid being pounded into the flooring, the gigantic metal arm smashing through the floor as if it was plastic. 

Sendak flung himself forward, intending to attack Shiro once again when the black paladin realized his opening. As Sendak came closer, he quickly braced himself against the floor, using his arms to flip the larger man away from him and to the ground. Shiro didn't hesitate, rushing Sendak and managing to get his hotly glowing arm underneath the Galra commander's chin, dangerously close to the vital parts of his purple furred neck. Shiro panted loudly, tensing as Sendak's own arm hovered. dangerously close and blisteringly hot against the armor of his chest. 

They glared at one another, caught in the moment, frozen in time as they waited for one or the other to make the first move. A different voice, deep and smooth, cut through to Shiro, making him freeze in panic and turn his head, "Let him go, or your friend won't make it."

Shiro stared as Lance was thrown to the floor, droid guns pointed at him, tracking the completely still paladin. Above and slightly to the side stood the thinner Galra, a bored look on his face as he stood there, completely lax even as his commanding officer stood ready to be killed by the Champion.

The brief break in Shiro's concentration was all that Sendak needed to get the upper hand. With a grunt, Shiro felt Sendak's fist slammed into his side and upper back, forcing the black paladin away from him. Shiro landed harshly on the floor, a little way away from Lance with a grunt. His vision swam blearily, the edges of his sight darkening and fading as he heard Sendak's triumphant voice ring out once more, "Voltron is ours!"


	10. Damn Lance Nice Shot!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He feels the body beside his lurch forwards suddenly, something muffled being discussed and he can only roll his head to the side and wait as his eyesight clears up just slightly before swimming dizzyingly once more. White armor with black accents greet his eyes, Shiro's face twisted in an angry snarl as he strains against his bindings while a big Empire grunt with a massive prosthetic arm stands before him, a smug sneer on his dumb furry face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so.... life kicked my ass and im here picking up the pieces.  
> sorry this took so long, but the update is here now! i'm also working on updating some of my other stories, writing out the next extra installment of this series' one on one paladin interactions with lance and writing out a plot for a BNHA reader insert so keep a look out for stuff!

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Pidge hisses softly as they barely dodge the Galra platoon passing by her little hidden spot in the vents. She knew she should have helped Shiro once he started fighting that big ass Galra with the prosthetic arm, but the sight of the other soldiers surrounding her commanding officer and her - friend? -  Lance made her hesitate.

She thought quickly, trying to keep out of sight as she passed through the castle and to the control centre. How could she prevent the Galra from leaving the planet with the castle of Lions and the Lions themselves? How can she buy Hunk and Coran time to grab a crystal from the closest Balmerra when any wrong step could end up with their capture?

Pidge pauses as they reach the bridge to the command centre, gold eyes widening in realisation as they turn around and start heading in the direction of the second backup power crystal. If they could destroy that one, or at least prevent it from working for a few moments, that'll be able to buy enough time for the others to return and help.

She started hurrying to the crystal with Rover shadowing her steps, unaware of the solid golden eyes following her every move, the owner smirking dangerously as he turns to follow the young paladin from a distance.

* * *

 

Hunk grips Yellow's controls nervously as he slowly flies the big Lion over to the living planet, his eyes nervously darting over to the silent form of Coran next to him. The Altean hadn't said a word since they got inside Yellow, something Hunk hadn't believed was possible when it can to the usually cheery older man. It made him nervous, more nervous than he already was, what with Lance injured and the Castle under attack and possible control of the Galra.

He barely pays attention as Coran instructs him on where to land on the relatively small, but still fairly big planet, slowly but surely moving Yellow to land quickly and easily on the ground. There are a few moments of silence within the cockpit before Coran takes a deep breath and turns to Hunk with a strained, albeit supportive grin, giving the yellow paladin a jerky thumbs up and complimenting him on his landing. Hunk replies, but he doesn't really know what he says as Coran heads to the exit.

Hunk takes a moment to breathe in a small bit of courage before following the Altean off Yellow. He desperately hoped they'd be able to make it back in time.

He should have realised that it could never be that easy, as his eyes catch the sight of hundreds of Galra soldiers and workers milling around the planet.

* * *

When Lance opens his eyes blearily, he's five again and surrounded by a sinister mauve light that makes his heart pound in fear and his breath stutter out of his lungs. Everything feels woozy, there's cotton stuffed in his ears and he clenches his hands together when he feels a blinding pain on his - back? that's not right, it's supposed to be his leg, what's going on this isn't-

He feels the body beside his lurch forwards suddenly, something muffled being discussed and he can only roll his head to the side and wait as his eyesight clears up just slightly before swimming dizzyingly once more. White armour with black accents greet his eyes, Shiro's face twisted in an angry snarl as he strains against his bindings while a big Empire grunt with a massive prosthetic arm stands before him, a smug sneer on his dumb furry face.

Lance clenches his hand again and can feel his Bayard laying snugly in his hand. He wasn't sure what had happened, wasn't sure where exactly he was, but as the big Galra goon is focused on Shiro, holding the black paladin up by the front of his armour and snarling something at the human, the young man raises his gun, takes careful aim even as his eyesight fuzzes with the sudden sharp pain that radiates from his back and shoots once, hitting the Galra somewhere in the face.

He thinks he made a witty one-liner - or at least, he hopes so, because the next thing he sees before his vision goes dark is Shiro activating his arm with a blinding purple-white light and taking down the big guy before him as the rest of team Voltron bursts in and saves the day.

* * *

As Allura and Pidge hurry to check on Shiro, Keith rushes over to Lance as the tanned young man slumps over onto his side painfully. Keith had barely seen Lance's amazing shot and heard the rather breathy words of the other before he'd slumped over unconscious once again.

Keith is the first to reach Lance and carefully picks him up, resting him gently in the cradle of his arms, quickly checking over Lance's pulse in the hopes that they weren't too late with returning to the castle to help Shiro and the others. Keith can feel his heart stutter uncomfortably in his chest as he feels the sluggish beating of the other young man's pulse, cursing quietly under his breath as he looks back over to Shiro. Shiro's brows are creased down in a worried frown, grey eyes catching purple ones as Keith lets out a small sigh and shakes his head.

Shiro seems to relax minutely, but once his bonds have been removed, he quickly marches over towards Keith to check over Lance himself. Keith feels a slightly bitter sting, but pushes it down and tries to focus on the moment when Shiro moves Lance into his own arms, lifting up to stand easily, Lance's unconscious body held gently, "We need to tie up the Galra troops and bring Lance to one of the healing pods as quickly as possible. Allura, are the pods functional?"

"I'm afraid not," The princess admits, a guilty frown marring her face as she crosses her arms, "However, it might be safer to bring him to them anyway. While they won't get to work on healing his injuries, they will stop any more damage that he could gain while he's in this state."

Shiro nods and turns quickly to Keith and Pidge, careful not to jostle Lance as he does so, "Pidge, Keith, I need you two to tie up the prisoners as quickly as you can while Allura and I go bring Lance to the healing pods. Be careful, but be quick; we need to get these guys put away so they can't possibly hurt us again while we try to get back in contact with Hunk and Coran."

"You got it," Pidge says grimly, frowning as they move off to start tying up the Galra, Keith giving Shiro a serious nod before going off to join her. Allura and Shiro don't hesitate, trusting the two younger paladins with their task as they hurry out of the room and off to the healing pods. 

Keith and Pidge work quickly, subduing the remaining troops and dragging them into the nearby prison cells before activating them. Once all the prisoners have been placed in their cells, they lock up the area and swiftly begin heading over to the medbay. They find Shiro and Allura standing outside a pod, Lance's calm face staring back at them from the viewing glass, but the two have a grim set to their jaw that makes Keith's stomach curdle in dread. 

"We got a message back from Coran and the yellow paladin, Hunk was it?" Allura begins, catching sight of the remaining two people in the castle, "They're unable to return from the Balmerra. Apparently, the Galra have taken over it and imprisoned the local people, leaving Coran and Hunk trapped and unable to escape without risking the lives of the people who belong there."

"Fuck," Pidge blurts, ignoring the look Shiro gives them as they stare at Allura in growing horror and understanding, "without the Balmerra crystals we won't be able to get the castle to lift off of Arrus or get the healing pods up and running again, but we can't get the crystals without freeing the people that live there."

Shiro nods and Keith curses loudly, his feet moving him as he starts pacing in the medbay agitatedly. Keith blocks out the others as they discuss possible plans, trying to come up with a way they could help out Hunk and Coran without risking the capture of the remaining paladins and Lions, as well as ensuring that no harm would come to the local populace. Keith's thoughts spun and twirled heavily in his mind, his pacing slowly coming to a stop as he glances up at the pod Lance is inside.

Lance looks peaceful and calm, but there is an undertone of pain that most would be able to ignore if they weren't looking properly at the usually active young man. His skin was pale and drawn from blood loss, there was the slight way his eyebrows were drawn together in a pained expression even as the rest of his face remained slack with unconsciousness. His vitals beeped sluggishly on the pod's display screen, and every few moments they would slow down just a hair more.

Lance was slowly dying.

Keith wouldn't allow that to happen. Not without getting some answers from his teammate.

"We can't just do nothing," Keith said, cutting Pidge off as they came up with an extremely convoluted and time sensitive plan, turning to face the rest of the team with a determined expression, "We don't have the time to come up with a good plan, because Lance isn't going to last long enough for that. We need to do something and we need to do it now, with minimal planning and stalling," Keith takes a small breath and squares his shoulders, "We need to sneak into the Balmerra, sabotage the Galra, save the locals and grab a crystal, Hunk, and Coran before hurrying back here."

Shiro seemed conflicted, glancing over at the unconscious Lance and sighed with a small nod, "I don't like that we can't come up with a better plan, but Keith is right. We don't have time to waste at the moment, not with one of our teammates gravely injured and the others stuck under Galra fire... so, here's the plan."

* * *

 

Only half an hour later, the Black, Green and Red Lions leave Arrus, warping to the closest Balmerra as quietly and quickly as they can.


End file.
